A famine in the 1990s is believed to have killed as much as 10 percent of the North Korean population.
After Korea the US was ready to send troops anywhere in order to defend the “free world”
As the USSR collapsed in the 1990s, so did the North Korean economy.
Immediately after the war, the North became economically prosperous with the backing of the Soviet Union.
In 1951 the ANZUS Pact was signed between Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
The renewed stress on ‘containment’ restricted future presidents from considering other policy options and alternatives.
In Indochina (Vietnam), the United States increased aid to the French.
Korea remains divided to this day: a million troops are massed either side of the 38th Parallel.
Mao grew increasingly irritated at Stalin's inconsistent support for North Korea, exacerbating a Sino-Soviet split.
The war cost the USA an estimated $67 billion and created an inflationary crisis.
Most of the materials used during the war were bought from Japan, thus stimulating the start of its economic miracle.
North Korea remains a communist nation and South Korea became a free republic.
Perhaps as many as 4 million Koreans died throughout the peninsula, two-thirds of them civilians.
South Korea had a turbulent start after the war with autocratic leadership.
South Korea's economy gained ground in the late 1960s, and it now ranks as the fourth largest economy in Asia.
The armistice agreement that ended the war is a truce, rather than a peace treaty.
The Korean War “confirmed the ideas behind NSC-68, with its call for US to expand its military” (Goldfield).
The Korean War gave an impetus to McCarthy’s Red Scare within the USA.
The Korean War suggested the USA would dominate the UN: 90% of UN troops were American; MacArthur took orders from Truman.
The Korean War set the stage for the further enlargement of the U.S. defence perimeter in Asia, including Vietnam.
The Secretary General of th UN, Trygve Lie, was later forced to resign by the USSR for being too pro-American.
The USA ended up looking both aggressive and indecisive, and almost sparked off World War III with China.
James Matray (2001): “The USA...paid an enormous price in death, destruction, and damaged reputation’
The USA signed defence treaties in 1951 with Japan and the Philippines.
The war destroyed Truman's popularity rating, which plummeted to 22%. He didn't run for President again in 1952.
The war reinforced the boundary between the North and the South.
David Bercuson: "The first real victory of the West in the Cold War was won in the bloody hills of central Korea.”
Korea helped bring an end to 20 years of Democratic control of the White House, paving the way for Eisenhower.
Korea soured Sino-American relations for the next 20 years.
United States achieved its larger goals, including preserving and promoting NATO interests and defending Japan.
USSR rejoined the UN during the Korean War, and used its veto to block dozens of ideas proposed by the Security Council.
