As the American conflict with North Korea gains intensity, there seem to be few good options for those opposed to the nuclear build-up of Kim Jung-un’s regime. Some foreign policy wonks think deterrence is the answer. It worked during the Cold War. But can it work with Kim, an arguably less rational leader than the Soviets of years ago. What  do you think?

I’m reposting our Korean War Timeline — first published in 2011 — because I think it provides some insight into today’s confrontation, both with North Korea and with our close ally South Korea. For not only is the US angry with North Korea, the Trump administration is accusing South Korea with appeasement and threatening to back out of a five year old trade deal. Perplexing since South Korea has been a close ally for about seven decades and the US has a 67 year old military alliance with the nation.

I do think that it’s worth revisiting this conflict  especially since the war itself is called the ‘unknown war’ or the ‘forgotten war.’ So here’s the Korean War Timeline.

1943: The Cairo Declaration was adopted by the Allies.

The Cairo Declaration stated that “Korea shall be free and independent.”

The United States and the Soviet Union agreed that — following the Japanese surrender —  Korea would be divided at the 38th parallel into Northern and Southern zones of military occupation.

August 1945:

Soviet forces enter Korea from the North.

September 1945:

American troops land in the South of Korea.

March 20, 1946:

The US – USSR Joint Commission begins drafting recommendations on the membership of the Korean transitional democratic government. This work is challenging because the Soviets and the Americans have differing views on democracy. The process ends in a deadlock, and the US submits the ‘Korean issue’ to the United Nations.

May 1948:

Parliamentary elections are held in the Southern zone under the supervision of the UN transitional commission. The USSR refuses to admit UN representatives in the North.

August 25, 1948:

The USSR severs diplomatic relations with the United States under the pretext that the Americans are holding two Soviet teachers against their will. The US reports that the teachers decided to stay in American custody of their own accord.

December 12, 1948:

The UN General Assembly recognizes the South Korean government in Seoul as the country’s lawful government and recommends the withdrawal of military occupation.

December 25, 1948:

The Soviet Union declares that it has pulled its troops out of North Korea. Notwithstanding, both superpowers continue building up their presence on the Korean Peninsula. The mutual antagonism of the two Korean regimes is increasingly apparent.

January 1950:

The UN Security Council rejects Soviet demands to exclude Chinese nationalists on the island of Formosa, now Taiwan, from the UN. In response, the Soviet delegation boycotts UN meetings for 8 months. This provides the Russians with an automatic excuse to regard all Security Council resolutions adopted during this period as illegitimate.

June 25, 1950:

North Korea mounts a military offensive on the Republic of Korea. The same day, the UN convenes to discuss the Korean issue at the request of the Americans. It adopts a resolution demanding the immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of North Korean troops South of the 38th parallel.

July 7, 1950:

The UN Security Council establishes a unified command over US led troops operating under the UN flag against North Korea. US troops make up more than 90% of the UN force. Sixteen other states also deploy troops. Five states dispatch medical units.

Russia, China, and North Korea consider these actions unjustified. Soviet Ambassador to the UN, Yakov Malik boycotts Security Council meetings and forfeits the right to vote.

Early 1953:

Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes President of the United States, succeeding Harry Truman. He threatens China with the use of nuclear force if Beijing refuses to accept and armistice in Korea.

July 27, 1953:

The US and the USSR reach an armistice agreement in Panmunjom, near the 38th parallel. Korea is divided into the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea.

December 31, 1991: 

The two Koreas agree on a nuclear ban. They initial an agreement banning nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula, but they don’t settle on measures to ensure compliance.

January 30, 1992:

North Korea signs an agreement to permit inspections of its seven sites at Yongbyon, a heavily guarded nuclear complex 60 miles north of Pyongyang.

March 12, 1993:

To avoid international inspections of its suspected nuclear weapons development program, North Korea announces it’s withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which it ratified in 1985. North Korea then rethinks withdrawing, but begins stockpiling plutonium.

May 29, 1993:

North Korea conducts what appears to be the first successful test of the country’s homegrown midrange missile, raising Japanese fears that missiles could reach some of Japan’s most populous cities.

December 1993:

The US Central Intelligence Agency tells President Bill Clinton that North Korea may have one or two nuclear bombs.

February 1994:

North Korea averts a possible trade embargo by allowing one full inspection of seven atomic sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an arm of the United Nations responsible for monitoring nuclear installations worldwide. The North refuses to let inspectors take radioactive samples from critical parts of its nuclear reprocessing center at Yongbyon.

May 1994:

IAEA inspectors return to North Korea to finish their inspection, concluding that the country is within days of obliterating evidence of how much (if any) nuclear fuel has been diverted to its weapons program. The Pentagon says the spent fuel could provide enough material for four or five nuclear bombs.

May 31, 1994:

North Korea tests a cruise missile designed to sink ships at a range of more than 100 miles.

June 1994:

North Korea announces its withdrawal from the IAEA and says the agency’s inspectors will no longer be allowed in the country. It also threatens to turn its stockpile of nuclear fuel into bombs.

The Clinton Administration reinforces the American military presence in South Korea.

Former President Jimmy Carter, acting on his own, travels to North Korea and meets with President Kim Il-sung. He strikes a deal that averts confrontation.

July 9, 1994:

President Kim Il-sung dies suddenly. His son, Kim Jong-il becomes leader.

October 21, 1994:

The US and North Korea sign a pact.

• North Korea agrees to freeze and then dismantle the complex in Yongbyon; it also agrees to open up two secret military sites to inspection by international experts.
• An international consortium agrees to replace North Korea’s current graphite nuclear reactors with new light-water reactors which produce little weapons-grade plutonium.
• The US and its allies agree to provide fuel oil to the North.

August 31, 1998:

The North fires a two-stage Taepodong-1 missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.

January 20, 2001:

In his first State of the Union Address, President Bush charges that Iran, Iraq, and North Korea “constitute an axis of evil.”

October 2002:

North Korea admits that it has been conducting a major clandestine nuclear program using enriched uranium. It declares it has now “nullified” its agreement with the US to freeze all nuclear weapons development activity.

February 2003:

The North decides to begin harvesting plutonium from its five-megawatt reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. American satellites detect plutonium being carted away, presumably for conversion to bomb fuel.

August 9, 2003:

Six nation talks begin. The US, China, Russia, South Korea, and Japan hold the first of several rounds of negotiations with North Korea in Beijing.

May 11, 2005:

North Korea says it has removed 8,000 spent fuel rods from a reactor at its main nuclear complex at Yongbyon in order to bolster its nuclear arsenal. The assertion cannot be verified.

September 19, 2005:

North Korea agrees to end its nuclear weapons program in return for security, economic, and energy benefits.

July 5, 2006:

The North launches seven missiles over the Sea of Japan. Other nations condemn the tests, and the United Nations Security Council later passes a resolution condemning them.

October 8, 2006:

North Korea says it has set off its first nuclear test. Although the test fizzled, it was enough to win unanimous  passage of a resolution imposing new economic sanctions.

October 31, 2006:

North Korea agrees to resume the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks.

February 13, 2007:

The US and four other nations reach a tentative agreement to provide North Korea with about $400 million in fuel oil and aid, in return for the North’s starting to disable its nuclear facilities and allowing nuclear inspectors back into the country.

June 27, 2008:

North Korea demolishes the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor site.

September 2008:

Pyongyang noves to resume the reprocessing of plutonium, complaining that the Bush adminstration hasn’t fulfilled a promise to remove North Korea from a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

October 11, 2008:

North Korea agrees to resume disabling its nuclear plant and to allow inspectors access to its declared nuclear sites. In return, the Bush administration removes the North from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.

December 2008:

With the Bush administration leaving office, six-nation talks collapse. North Korea says there will be no more talks and vows to increase its nuclear efforts, including uranium enrichment.

April 5, 2009:

North Korea defies the US, China, and a series of United Nations resolutions by launching a rocket that the country says is designed to propel a satellite into space. The US argues that the North is edging toward the capability to shoot a nuclear warhead on a longer range missile.

May 25, 2009:

North Korea’s official news agency announces that the country has successfully conducted its second nuclear test.

President Obama’s team determines that it cannot do business with the North Korean government and essentially freezes the relationship.

May 26, 2009:

North Korea fires three more missiles into the sea near Japan.

June 12, 2009:

The UN Security Council votes unanimously on an enhanced package of sanctions, including the inspection of cargo vessels and airplanes suspected of carrying military material in or out of the country.

December 2010:

The Obama administration concludes that North Korea’s new plant to enrich nuclear fuel uses technology that is significantly more advanced than what Iran has assembled.

June 2011:

North and South Korea have still not signed a peace treaty. American troops remain in deployment at the 38th parallel under the UN flag.

By some estimates, 2.5 million people died in the war, over one million of them Chinese.

December 19, 2011:

Kim  Jong-il dies of a heart attack.

December 29, 2011:

North Korea declares Kim Jong-un its “supreme leader.” The son of Kim Jong-il, Mr. Kim is now commander of the 1.2 million strong Korean People’s Army.

February 29, 2012:

North Korea agrees to suspend nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and to allow international inspectors to verify and monitor activities at its main reactor, as part of a deal that includes an American pledge to ship food aid to the nation.

April 12, 2012:

North Korea launches a rocket that the US and its allies call a provocative pretext for developing an intercontinental ballistic missile that might one day carry a nuclear warhead. The launching fails.

The failed launching draws immediate international condemnation, including the suspension by the US of food aid.

May 4, 2012:

An American-based institute says that North Korea has resumed construction of a nuclear reactor that would give the country a new source of spent nuclear fuel from which plutonium, a fuel for nuclear weapons, can be extracted.

December 12, 2012:

North Korea successfully launches a long-range rocket into orbit. The rocket travels beyond the Philippines and apparently puts an object into orbit.

January 2013:

In response to the United Nations Security Council’s unanimous decision to tighten sanctions, North Korea bluntly threatens the US, declaring:

• it has no interest in talks on denuclearization
• it will forge ahead with missile and weapons development
• its objective is to hit American territory.

February 12, 2013:

North Korea confirms that it has conducted its third nuclear test.

February 25, 2013:

Park Geun-hye becomes the first woman sworn in as President of South Korea.

February 28, 2013:

Dennis Rodman , former NBA basketball star, meets with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and proclaims him a “friend for life.” Mr. Rodman and the crew of Vice Media, which is producing an HBO series, are now the only Americans know to have met Mr. Kim.

March 7, 2013:

The United Nations Security Council orders new economic sanctions agains North Korea for its third nuclear test last month. The vote

• involves painful new constraints on North Korean banking, trade, and travel
• pressures countries to search suspect North Korean cargo
• includes new enforcement language.

March 11. 2013:

North Korea nullifies the 1953 war truce.

President Obama’s national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon, announces that the US Treasury Department will impose sanctions on a North Korean bank that specializes in foreign-exchange transactions.

March 15,, 2013:

The US says it will deploy additional ballistic-missile interceptors along the Pacific Coast by 2017 in response to North Korea’s tests of nuclear technology and long-range missiles.

March 27, 2013:

North Korea cuts off the last remaining military hot lines with South Korea.

March 28, 2013:

The US flies two B-2 Spirit bombers on practice runs over South Korea.

3-29-2013:

Kim Jong-un places North Korea’s missile units on stand-by to be ready to strike US military bases in South Korea and the Pacific.

3-30-2013:

North Korea says it is entering a “state of war” with South Korea.

3-31-2013:

The US sends F-22 stealth fighter jets to Osan Air Base, the main US Air Force base in South Korea. The fighters will join military drills aimed at underscoring the US commitment to defend Seoul in the face of intensifying threats from North Korea.

Want to learn more about Korea? Check out the following posts.

Cold War Spying Year by Year: 1951 and the Korean War.

 Check out our post on At the Movies: North Korea.

We also have a post on Korean War Music. Just click here.

 

Music played an outsized role in the Cold War. Look for our articles about the Jazz Ambassadors, the Beatles and Blue Jeans theory of the fall of the Soviet Union, Vietnam protest music, and atomic (nuclear) music.  Today I thought I’d give you just a taste by posting an article on Korean War Music. Here goes!

KOREAN WAR MUSIC

Songs about the Korean War aren’t among the most memorable tunes of the 20th century. But the music does represent an interesting shift from the overtly patriotic lyrics of World War II to the anti-war protest melodies of the Vietnam War era. Songs linked to the Korean War are dominated by the same themes found in earlier war lyrics: patriotism, the soldier in battle, faith, and emotional pain. These topics are expressed in populist genres from pre-rock times: country, blue grass, and blues.

The Korean War was a long time coming. Negotiations had been ongoing since the Cairo Declaration of 1943 which stated that “Korea shall be free and independent.”

The United States and the Soviet Union had agreed that — following the Japanese surrender — Korea would be divided at the 38th parallel into Northern and Southern zones of military occupation. In August 1945 Soviet forces entered Korea from the North, and in September 1945 American troops landed in the South of Korea.

In May 1948 parliamentary elections were held in the Southern zone under the supervision of the United Nations transitional commission. The USSR refused to admit UN representatives in the North.

On August 25, 1948, the Soviets severed diplomatic relations with the United States under the pretext that the Americans were holding two Soviet teachers against their will. The US reported that the teachers had decided to stay in American custody of their own accord.

In December 1948, the UN General Assembly recognized the South Korean government in Seoul as the country’s lawful government and recommended the withdrawal of military occupation.

On Christmas Day 1948, the Soviet Union declared that it had pulled its troops out of North Korea. Still, both superpowers continued building up their presence on the Korean Peninsula. The mutual antagonism of the two Korean regimes was increasingly apparent.

North Korea mounted a military offensive against the South on June 25, 1950. The same day, the United Nations convened to discuss the Korean issue at the request of the Americans. Subsequently, The UN adopted Resolution 83 demanding the immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of North Korean troops South of the 38th parallel.

On July 7, 1950, the UN Security Council established a unified command over US led troops operating under the UN flag against North Korea. Although 16 countries deployed troops and 5 nations dispatched medical units, US troops made up more than 90% of the UN force.

An early song about the Korean War picked up on the uncertainty and trepidation of the times. “God Please Protect America” by Jimmie Osborne, was an overtly religious song that asked God to protect American soldiers in Korea. It was a pretty standard war song, highlighting the heartache of family back home and the necessity of victory. The song first appeared on the Billboard charts on October 7. It peaked at #9.

At this point, nobody really knew what was ahead or what kind of war the US would be fighting. America’s military was in decline in the aftermath of World War II, and most experienced combat troops had retired. South Korean troops were seriously outclassed by North Korea’s army.

The situation changed, though, after General MacArthur’s victory at Incheon on September 19, 1950. North Korean troops scattered and fell into disarray. Soon Allied forces were on the streets of Pyongyang (North Korea), and the war seemed as good as over. At least that’s what Jimmie Osborne thought when he wrote “Thank God for Victory in Korea,” recorded on October 2, 1950.

Now, you probably know the Korean War didn’t end in 1950, so this song was very premature. In fact, Chinese forces entered the conflict three weeks later, changing the character of the war.

A crack at communist China was exactly what MacArthur had wanted. But with the Chinese intervention in October 1950, the UN and South Korean forces suffered a series of setbacks. On December 15, UN forces recrossed the 38th Parallel back into South Korea. Some Americans began to wonder if President Truman would once again authorize the dropping of the atomic bomb. This is reflected by Jackie Doll and his Pickled Peppers in their song “When They Drop The Atomic Bomb.”

MacArthur supposedly wanted to use 50 atomic bombs to lay down a permanent radioactive belt along the Yalu River, but President Truman was opposed to this course of action. After MacArthur made a series of statements against Truman’s war policy, he was fired for insubordination, an action supported by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A number of songs were written in tribute to MacArthur, with names like “Old Soldiers Never Die” by Gene Autry. Most of these songs praised the General’s World War II achievements and grieved his retirement without mentioning his performance in Korea.

By the fall of 1951, American and UN forces were locked in a bloody stalemate, epitomized by the battle of Heartbreak Ridge. Casualty figures in that battle were estimated at over 3,700 American and French and an estimated 25,000 North Koreans and Chinese. The battle inspired “A Heartsick Soldier on Heartbreak Ridge,” a popular song performed by a number of musicians, including Ernest Tubb, Wesley Tuttle, and Gene Autry. This is Ernest Tubb’s version.

As we just heard, the narrator misses his girlfriend as well as the love letters that never came. The topic of soldiers leaving loved ones at home was a common theme, and the fear of a “Dear John Letter” was often in the forefront of a soldier’s consciousness. So it’s hardly surprising that the most popular song to come out of the Korean conflict was “A Dear John Letter” by Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky, recorded on May 3, 1953. The song held the #1 spot on the country charts for 6 weeks, and remained on the charts for 23 weeks.

The “Dear John” song tells the tale of a woman leaving her boyfriend for his brother, a cruel end to a relationship — especially when you’re stranded in a war zone. This song inspired a sequel titled “Dear Joan” by Jack Cardwell in which John writes back that it’s okay because he loves her sister anyway. “Forgive Me John” is by the same original artists (Shepard and Husky), and tells about Joan changing her mind.

On July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. Also, the exact same day, gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe released the uplifting song “There’s Peace in Korea.”

Blues guitarist Lightnin’ Hopkins released his own song “The War is Over” two days later commemorating the end of the war. This tune emphasizes returning to life’s little problems, as well as the anxiety over “that woman,” with some domestic violence added in. The war’s end also brought a number of sad songs as the survivors counted the dead and arranged for POW exchanges, as well as dealing with the challenges of adapting back into civilian life.

One such song is “Searching for You, Buddy” by Red River Dave, a soul-searching song about a fellow soldier who died in war.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the music. Look for the playlist coming soon on the Cold War YouTube Channel.

Everybody and their brother is writing about North Korea, so I didn’t think that Cold War Studies had much to add to the mix. We published our Korean War Timeline in 2011, and I updated it about a week ago. But when I was playing around with some work I’m doing on Havana Film Festivals, I was astonished to come across information about how much North Koreans love the movies. They even have a Pyongyang International Film Festival.  According to the Huffington Post, the festival, held every two years,

offers North Koreans their only chance to see a wide array of foreign films on the big screen – from Britain, Germany and elsewhere (but not America). And it’s the only time foreigners are allowed into North Korean theaters to watch movies alongside locals.

Before I talk anymore about their festival though, I’d like to suggest that you familiarize yourself with the country by watching some Hollywood films about North Korea as well as an award winning documentary, Welcome to North Korea, made by Dutch filmmaker Peter Tetteroo and his associate Raymond Feddema.

You can also stream Welcome to North Korea online at http://archive.org/details/WelcometoNorthKorea .

Here is the archive.org description of the documentary:

Type: Documentary Rating: NR Running Time: 60 Minutes Starring: Directed by: Peter Tetteroo, Raymond Feddema PLOT DESCRIPTION The winner of the 2001 International Emmy award for Best Documentary, Welcome to North Korea is a grotesquely surreal look at the all-too-real conditions in modern-day North Korea. Dutch filmmaker Peter Tetteroo and his associate Raymond Feddema spent a week in and around the North Korean capital of Pyongyang — ample time to represent the starvation and deprivation afflicting a good portion of the population, and to offset such “contemporary” imagery as cars and public facilities with the conspicuous nonuse of these trappings. As the filmmakers reveal, the North Koreans have no opportunity to compare their existence with that of the outside world, due to the near-total cutoff of news and free transportation. The one predominant feature of this oppressed nation is manifested in the scores of statues, sculptures, and iconic paintings of North Korea’s Communist dictator Kim Jong II, who has gone to great and sometimes ruthless lengths to convince his subjects that he has inherited godlike powers from his equally “divine” father, the late Kim II Sung (whose mummified body still lies in state, à la Lenin). Were this not all too painfully true, Welcome to North Korea could easily pass as a grotesque fairy tale, out Grimm-ing anything found in Grimm. The film made its American TV debut via the Cinemax cable network on March 18, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Three Hollywood films come immediately to mind. If you have others to recommend, be sure to leave a comment at the end of this post.

First, The Bridges at Toko-Ri. According to Amazon, the film, set during the Korean War, tells the story of a Navy fighter pilot must who must come to terms with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. The ending of this grim war drama is all tension.

Buy The Bridges at Toko-Ri on Amazon.

A second Hollywood movie about North Korea, and one of my all time favorites, is the original version of The Manchurian Candidate. Amazon says:

You will never find a more chillingly suspenseful, perversely funny, or viciously satirical political thriller than The Manchurian Candidate, based on the novel by Richard Condon (author of Winter Kills). The film, withheld from distribution by star Frank Sinatra for almost a quarter century after President Kennedy’s assassination, has lost none of its potency over time. Former infantryman Bennet Marco (Sinatra) is haunted by nightmares about his platoon having been captured and brainwashed in Korea. The indecipherable dreams seem to center on Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey), a decorated war hero but a cold fish of a man whose own mother (Angela Lansbury, in one of the all-time great dragon-lady roles) describes him as looking like his head is “always about to come to a point.” Mrs. Bates has nothing on Lansbury’s character, the manipulative queen behind her second husband, Senator John Iselin (James Gregory), a notoriously McCarthyesque demagogue. –Jim Emerson

Buy The Manchurian Candidate (Special Edition) on Amazon. Of course you can always take a look at the recent remake,The Manchurian Candidate 2004.

The third Hollywood film about North Korea is the remake of  Red Dawn (2012/13). I’ve read that it’s not so good, but I don’t know anyone who’s actually seen it, so it might be just your cup of tea. Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments section. This is what Amazon has to say:

Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games), and Isabel Lucas (Immortals) deliver a full arsenal of pulse-pounding excitement in this explosive action-adventure! The unsuspecting citizens of Spokane, Washington, wake up one morning to the shocking sight of foreign paratroopers dropping from the sky in a surprise attack on the United States. Soon the entire city is under enemy control, but a group of courageous teenagers has decided to fight back, by waging an all-out war against the invaders, to take back their town – and their freedom!

Buy Red Dawn on Amazon.

Now, back to the Pyongyang International Film Festival.  

In 2012,  festival goers saw two feature films shot in North Korea but edited overseas: the romantic comedy Comrade Kim Goes Flying, a joint North Korean-European production, and Meet in Pyongyang, made in conjunction with a Chinese studio.

Foreign offerings include a Sherlock Holmes film and the romantic comedy The Decoy Bride from Britain, the Jet Li kung fu film Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, the French hit Women on the 6th Floor about a community of Spanish emigres to Paris, and two love stories from Iran.

I was surprised to learn that Kim Jong Il, the late leader of North Korea, was quite a movie buff.  He even wrote a treatise in 1973 titled On the Art of Cinema. He said:

Creative work is not a mere job, but an honorable revolutionary task.

Current North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is also very interested in film according to Korean Film Studio spokesman Choe Eun-hee. According to Choe, the main purpose of North Korean cinema is propaganda.

Our films carry a different purpose than movies made in other countries. We make films for the purpose of ideological education.

Want more information? Check out North Korean Films.