THE MAKING OF A NATION 205 - Korean War

THE MAKING OF A NATION - August 8, 2002: Korean War

VOICE 1:
This is Doug Johnson.
VOICE 2:
And this is Phil Murray with THE MAKING OF A NATION, a VOA Special English program about the history

of the United States.
(Theme)
Today, we tell about the Korean War.
VOICE 1:
The biggest problem facing Dwight Eisenhower when he became president of the

United States was the continuing conflict in Korea.
Eisenhower was elected in November nineteen-fifty-two. At the time, the United
States had been helping¹ South Korea fight North Korea for more than two years.

About twenty other members of the United Nations were helping South Korea, too.
They provided troops, equipment, and medical aid.
VOICE 2:
During the last days of the American presidential election campaign, Eisenhower announced that he would go to

Korea. He thought such a trip would help end the war. Eisenhower kept his promise. He went to Korea after he
won the election, but before he was sworn-in as president. Yet there was no permanent peace in Korea until July
of the next year, nineteen-fifty-three.

((music)
)
VOICE 1:
The war started when North Korean troops invaded South Korea. Both sides believed they should control all of

the country.
The dream of a united Korea was a powerful one.
From nineteen-ten until World War Two, Japan ruled Korea. In an agreement at the end of the war, Soviet² troops

occupied the North. They accepted the surrender of Japanese troops and set up a military government. American
troops did the same in the South. The border dividing north and south was the geographic³ line known as the
thirty-eighth parallel.

VOICE 2:

A few years later, the United Nations General Assembly ordered free elections for all of Korea. With U-N help,
the South established the Republic of Korea. Syngman rhee was elected the first president.
On the other side of the thirty-eighth parallel, however, the Soviets⁴ refused to permit U-N election officials to

enter the North. They established a communist government there, called the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea. Kim Il-sung was named premier⁵.

A truck carries American
troops toward the 38th
parallel.
(Photo -Library of Congress)

VOICE 1:

Five years after the end of World War Two, the United States had withdrawn⁶ almost all its troops from South
Korea. It was not clear if America would defend the South from attack. South Korea had an army. But it was
smaller and less powerful than the North Korean army.

North Korea decided⁷ the time was right to invade. On June twenty-fifth, North Korean soldiers crossed the thirty-
eighth parallel.

The U-N Security Council demanded that they go back. Two days later, it approved military support for South
Korea. The Soviet delegate had boycotted⁸ the meeting that day. If he had been present, the resolution would have
been defeated.

VOICE 2:

The U-N demand did not stop the North Korean troops. They continued to push south. In a week, they were on
the edge of the capital, Seoul.

America's president at that time, Harry⁹ Truman, ordered air and sea support for South Korea. A few days later, he
announced that American ground forces would be sent, too. Truman wanted an American to command U-N
troops in Korea. The U-N approved his choice: General Douglas MacArthur.

VOICE 1:

Week after week, more U-N forces arrived. Yet by August, they had been pushed back to the Pusan perimeter¹⁰.
This was a battle line around an area near the port city of Pusan in the southeast corner of Korea.

North Korean forces tried to break through the Pusan perimeter. They began a major attack August sixth. They
lost many men, however. By the end of the month, they withdrew.

VOICE 2:

The next month, general MacArthur directed a surprise landing of troops in South Korea. They arrived at the port
of Inchon on the northwest coast.

The landing was extremely dangerous. The daily change in the level of the sea was as much as nine meters. The
boats had to get close to shore and land at high tide. If they waited too long, the water level would drop, and they
would be trapped in the mud with little protection. The soldiers on the boats would be easy targets.

VOICE 1:

The landing at Inchon was successful. The additional troops quickly divided the North Korean forces, which had
been stretched from north to south. At the same time, U-N air and sea power destroyed the northern army's lines
of communication.

On October first, South Korean troops moved into North Korea. They captured the capital, Pyongyang. Then they
moved toward the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. China warned against moving closer
to the border. General MacArthur ordered the troops to continue their attacks. He repeatedly said he did not
believe that China would enter the war in force.

VOICE 2:

He was wrong. Several hundred thousand Chinese soldiers crossed into North Korea in October and November.
Still, General MacArthur thought the war would be over by the Christmas holiday, December twenty-fifth.

That was not to happen. The U-N troops were forced to withdraw from Pyongyang. And, by the day before
Christmas, there had been a huge withdrawal¹¹ by sea from the coastal¹² city of Hungnam.

((music))


VOICE 1:

In the first days of nineteen-fifty-one, the North Koreans recaptured Seoul. The U-N troops withdrew about forty
kilometers south of the city. They re -organized and, two months later, took control of Seoul again.

Then the war changed. The two sides began fighting along a line north of the thirty-eighth parallel. They
exchanged control of the same territory over and over again. Men were dying, but no one was winning. The cost
in lives was huge.

VOICE 2:

General MacArthur had wanted to cross into China and drop bombs on Manchuria. He also had wanted to use
Nationalist Chinese troops against the communists.

President Truman feared these actions might start another world war. He would not take this chance. When
MacArthur disagreed with his policies in public, Truman dismissed him.

VOICE 1:

In June, nineteen-fifty-one, the Soviet delegate to the united nations proposed a ceasefire for Korea. Peace talks
began, first at Kaesong, then at Panmunjom. By November, hope was strong for a settlement. But negotiators
could not agree about several issues, including the return of prisoners. The U-N demanded that prisoners of war
be permitted to choose if they wanted to go home.

The different issues could not be resolved after more than a year. Finally, in October, nineteen-fifty-two, the
peace talks were suspended.

VOICE 2:

Fighting continued during the negotiations¹³. As it did, president Truman lost support. This was one reason why he
decided not to run for re-election. The new president, Dwight Eisenhower, took office in January, nineteen-fiftythree.

Eisenhower had campaigned to end the war. He was willing to use severe measures to do this. Years later, he
wrote that he secretly threatened to expand the war and use nuclear weapons, if the Soviets did not help re -start
the peace talks.

VOICE 1:

Such measures were not necessary. In a few months, North Korea accepted an earlier U-N offer to trade prisoners
who were sick or wounded. The two sides finally signed a peace treaty on July twenty-seventh, nineteen-fiftythree.

The treaty provided for the exchange of about ninety-thousand prisoners of war. It also permitted prisoners to
choose if they wanted to go home.

VOICE 2:

The war in Korea damaged almost all of the country. As many as two-million people may have died, including
many civilians¹⁴.

After the war, the United States provided hundreds of thousands of soldiers to help the South guard against attack
from the north. Today, about fifty-thousand Americans are deployed¹⁵ in South Korea.

Almost half a century has passed since the truce¹⁶. Yet Korea is still divided. And many of the same issues still
threaten the Korean people, and the world.

(Theme)


VOICE 1:

This program of THE MAKING OF A NATION was written by Jeri Watson and produced by Paul Thompson.
This is Doug Johnson.
VOICE 2:
And this is Phil Murray. Join us again next week for another VOA Special English program about the history of

the United States.

 

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1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

5 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

6 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 boycotted   

抵制，拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Athletes from several countries boycotted the Olympic Games. 有好几国的运动员抵制奥林匹克运动会。
• The opposition party earlier boycotted the Diet agenda, demanding Miyaji's resignation. 反对党曾杯葛国会议程，要宫路下台。

9 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

10 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

11 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

12 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

13 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

16 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。