The Inchon landing, on the 15th September 1950, was a great military success for the USA. It was a high risk strategy; there was a large tidal change, no beaches, and a high possibility that the Koreans would mine the area. MacArthur appointed Lieutenant General Edward Almond with the 1st Marine Division to spearhead the attack. The leader of North Korea, Kim Ill Sung, was taken completely by surprise and therefore no mines had been placed on the harbour, despite Mao (the Chinese leader) warning him that this was likely US move.
The operation was incredibly successful and Inchon was secured with minimal casualties. This was a very significant military success in the Korean War because MacArthur was hailed as a military genius, and his popularity back home increased even more. The US forces had triumphed after the previous embarrassing retreat to the Pusan Pocket and the way was paved for the North Korean presence in the South to be totally removed. Following the success at Inchon, US forces were able to push the North Korean back past the 38th Parallel.
US forces entered Seoul and this is where the worst fighting took place because North Korean reinforcements had been rushed into the area. The marines were urged to make rapid progress regardless of casualties, because MacArthur and Almond were eager to meet the three week deadline to impress the media. In addition, Walkers army in Pusan forced the remainder of North Korean troops into retreat. This was also a huge success for the US in Korea, Kim’s forces were cut off from supplies and forced to scramble back to the 38th Parallel and his hope of seizing the whole of Korea and been crushed.
However, unlike the Inchon landing, it had resulted in many casualties, and therefore it could be described as less of a success for the US. A military failure of the Korean War was the 300 mile US retreat, which was a result of Chinese intervention. Intervention was a risky move for China as the country had been torn apart by civil war and there was still a significant threat to the communist regime in the south, with Chiang Kai-shek living in Taiwan.
However, Mao didn’t want to share a border with a hostile American controlled Korea, especially as the Chinese province of Manchuria depended on hydro-electric power from North Korea. Mao decided to intervene, in October after the USA had crossed the 38th parallel. By mid-November between 120,000 and 150,000 Chinese soldiers confronted Almonds troops in the east, and in excess of 200,000 faced Walker’s 8th Army in the west. MacArthur was tricked into believing that the Chinese troops had retreated, and urged US forces to push forward.
This is when the Chinese offensive begun, the UN front collapsed and Republic of Korea army fled, resulting in the longest retreat in US history. A political success of the Korean War was the involvement of the UN, which improved its creditability and allowed Truman to fight under an international umbrella. It had been proven that the UN wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of the League of Nations, which was ineffectual, carried little weight, and hadn’t stood up to the aggressive forces which provoked World War Two.
Many powers had joined America in the fight against communism, including the UK, Turkey and Canada, which represented a unified force of capitalism. Also, by resisting communism through the UN, Truman’s government had taken the moral high ground. They had chosen a limited war with allies, as opposed starting a war with China, as MacArthur had wished, which would have very likely resulted in US victory. Another political success for the USA was the creation of an independent and democratic South Korea.
America promised to protect South Korea from a North Korean attack; however it was made clear that their role was in defence rather than attack. Over time, democracy developed along with a growing middle class population and prosperity in the country. Therefore, it could be argued that the war had fulfilled the aims of Truman and the UN, due to the flourishing democracy that South Korea enjoyed in the late 20th century and still does today. A political disadvantage of the Korean War was an increase in anti-communist paranoia, which was especially represented through the Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Between, 1950-51 McCarthy had increased in strength, and accused top politicians (including Dean Acheson in the State Department) of being involved in communist plots, despite these accusations being incredibly unbelievable to any sane US citizen. McCarthy had become feared in US politics, and was effective in undermining government, until Eisenhower’s administration in 1953 when McCarthy became an embarrassment and faded from politics. Ironically, in this period of intense paranoia few real communist spies or plots were uncovered.
