Korean War

Assignment: Korean War

David Moore

HIS/130

October 25, 2012

Kurt Scheffler

Assignment: Korean War

The Korean War brought many effects to not only Korea but the whole world. The Korean War was one of the most destructive wars in history and brought forth economic and social damage to the country of Korea. Even with all of this destruction the Korean War was still able to boost the economy of both the United States and Japan. The Korean War legitimized the United Nations and eventually allowed the expansion of military power. With the Korean War the people of the United States showed an increase in anti-communist feelings. The Korean War brought both positive and negative effects to the world.

With the Korean War many negative effects occurred in Korea. The Korean War was one of the most destructive of the 20th century where as many as four million Koreans perished throughout the peninsula with an overwhelming majority being civilians. Comparatively during World War II 2.3 million Japanese died with China losing up to one million soldiers while the United States suffered 36,934 dead and 103,284 wounded. The social damage brought by the Korean War, especially in the North, where three years of bombing left almost no modern buildings standing. This war also made the boundaries between the north and south more defined. This social difference still causes issues even today.

Even with the negative effects the Korean War had on the country there were still some positive effects as well. The positive effects being that it boosted the economy of Japan. The reason the economy was boosted was because the materials used to rebuild Korea was purchased from Japan. This helped Japan quite a bit, especially after the devastation of WW II. A similar effect occurred in the United States as defense spending nearly quadrupled within the last six months of 1950. Even with the devastation of the Korean War there was new life brought to Japan and the United States after WW II...