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the freedom to run their country for themselves as they thought best, following more or less socialistic models. They were very soon branded ‘Communists’ (‘Palgaengi’ or ‘reds’) by supporters of Syngman Rhee and the American Military Government. Some took to the hills as guerrillas. The result was a reign of terror in which countless innocent folk were massacred as ‘reds’. One of the most notorious and atrocious mass-acres happened in Jeju Island on 3 April 1948, when thousands of innocent civilians, including children, were killed.
    Meanwhile, in the northern half of the peninsula, the USSR quickly handed control to the local Communist Party with the support of many guerrila fighters returning from Manchuria and Siberia. Hundreds of Christians and landowners began to flee southward, while many of Korea’s brightest intellectuals and writers rejoiced in the establishment of a socialist regime in the North and were glad to go there to support it. As a result of the growth of the Cold War, in 1948 two opposing republics of Korea, South and North, were proclaimed, each claiming to control the entire Korean peninsula.
The Korean War
    On 25 June 1950, the North Korean army (Korean People’s Army, KPA) began to advance southward across the 38th parallel. This act of aggression or invasion was brought to the attention of the United Nations Security Council, which the USSR was then boycotting, and after debating the matter, the Security Council recommended that member states provide military assistance to the Republic of Korea.
    As they launched their first attack, the North Koreans had a combined force that included tanks supported by heavy artillery; the South Koreans, lacking tanks, anti-tank weapons, or heavyartillery, could not stop such an attack. On 27 June, Syngman Rhee evacuated secretly from Seoul with some of the government. The next day the South Korean Army blew up the only bridge across the Han River in an attempt to stop the North Korean army. The bridge was blown up without warning while 4,000 refugees were crossing it, and hundreds were killed. Seoul fell to North Korea that same day.
    By August, the allies controlled only a small area in the vicinity of Pusan, in south-east Korea. The rest of the country was declared part of the North Korean ‘People’s Republic’. General MacArthur landed a large force at Incheon, on the west coast, on 15 September 1950. On 25 September, Seoul was recaptured and the North Koreans soon began to retreat northwards.
    By 1 October 1950, the North Koreans had withdrawn past the 38th parallel; the UN forces followed them northwards, meeting minimal resitance, and soon the allied forces had reached the Chinese border. The Chinese decided to intervene. After secretly crossing the Yalu River on 19 October, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (PVA) launched their first offensive, attacking the advancing UN forces near the border. The UN forces began to retreat and were forced back below the 38th parallel border in mid December.
    On New Year’s Eve of 1950, the Chinese launched a new offensive into South Korea, which overwhelmed the UN forces, allowing the PVA and KPA on 4 January 1951 to conquer Seoul for the second time. The withdrawal of the allied forces together with most of the population from Seoul is known as the ‘January Retreat’. Two months later, the PVA and the KPA were again dislodged from Seoul (14 March 1951) and by the end of May, the allies had established the so-called ‘Line Kansas’ just north of the 38th parallel. Then began a stalemate that lasted until the Armistice of 1953. The ‘Line Kansas’ (or Kansas Line) was to form the basis for the present frontier between the two Koreas.
    Armistice negotiations began 10 July 1951 at Kaesong. They continued for two years, first at Kaesong, afterwards relocated at Panmunjom. The final armistice agreement was signed on 27 July 1953, by the UN Command, China and North Korea. The Republic of Korea did