The Korea Knot

A Military-Political History

Carl Berger

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press Anniversary Collection
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781512800432, 9781512800432
• eBook ISBN: 9781512800449
• Edition: 2
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History
• Index: History

Beginning with a brief account of the troubled historical past of this small country that had long known invasion and the threat of invasion, Carl Berger sets the stage for Korea's catastrophic hour resulting from World War II—the division of a once-united nation into two separate countries. It is this division, he maintains, that holds the key to the Korean tragedy.The book ranges from the Cairo Pledge to the present, examining the shifts in international diplomacy, Russia's change in attitude after Yalta and the death of Roosevelt, the intransigence of the Communist occupiers of northern Korea after the defeat of Japan. Berger also vividly describes the Communist invasion of South Korea and the conviction of President Truman that led ot the united Nations action to meet the challenge under the leadership of the United States. The bitter warfare of the "police action, " the worldwide shock at the Chinese "volunteer" army's sudden entry into North Korea, the recall of General MacArthur, the struggles to work out an armistice, President' Rhee's despairing attempts to force the unification of his country and his final downfall—the entire dramatic story is unfolded in sequence.Carefully documented, The Korea Knot is an objective and detailed study that makes an important contribution to our understanding of the dilemmas—of war and peace, of freedom and repression—that still face a divided world.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Note on the Second Edition
• Contents
• 1. Korea's Past: A Brief Introduction
• 2. 1943 The Cairo Pledge
• 3. The Russian-American Occupation of Korea and the Moscow Agreement
• 4. Failure of the Joint Soviet-American Commission
• 5. Enter the United Nations and Formation of Two Korean Governments
• 6. Withdrawal of the Russian and American Occupation Forces
• 7. The March to "Civil" War
• 8. Washington Reacts
• 9. MacArthur's Strategy Defeats the North Koreans
• 10. Chinese Communist Intervention and the Military Stalemate
• 11. The Frustrating Armistice Negotiations
• 12. The Communists Give In
• 13. Rhee's Rebellion
• 14. The Uneasy Armistice
• 15. Rebellion Again and a Fall from Power
• 16. The Rise of the New Korean Strongman
• 17. The Continuing Korean Cold War and the Sino-Soviet Dispute
• 18. Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index