Korean War - Summary of Key Dates and Events

Korean War Timeline  

1945: 

• Feb – Roosevelt, Churchill & Stalin met at Yalta 

• Apr – Roosevelt dies & is succeeded by Truman is 'tough' on communism 

• August – Korea was liberated from Japanese control by Soviet troops from the north and American troops from the south and the country was temporarily divided at the 38th parallel.  

• each wished to rule a united and independent Korea.  

1947: 

• Truman promises to fight communism (Truman Doctrine) 

1948: 

• Soviet-sponsored communist regime under Kim Il Sung was set up in North Korea. It won support through carrying out land reform.  

• A US-backed right-wing government led by Syngman Rhee was elected under UN supervision in the South, but was corrupt and brutally suppressed left-wing opponents.  

• A Joint Commission, set up by the United Nations, failed to establish a ‘trusteeship’ government to unite the country. 

• Jan 12 – Dean Acheson, in his speech to National press clubs, says South Korea is not a part of the US defence perimeter in Asia  

• February – North Korean People’s Army est. 

• May – Korean Election Day 

• August – Rhee elected as president of the Republic of Korea. 

• September – People’s Democratic Republic of North Korea set up under Kim Il Sung. 

1949: 

• March - Kim Il Sung visits Moscow and meets Stalin. 

• 4th April 1949 - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) - military alliance of 12 countries including the US. 

• August - USSR successfully tested its own atomic bomb – arms race began 

• Both the Soviet and US occupying forces withdrew from Korea, but while Soviet troops remained. 

• Soviet military advisers and armed forces in the North, the US refused to equip the South with troops for fear of a civil war breaking out.  

• Mao…