What were the main causes of the Korean war?
1. Division of Korea by the USA and Russia
2. Separate governments installed, hostile to each other and competing for recognition as the one legitimate Korean government
3. Support from Russia and China for North Korea’s leader Kim Il Sung to undertake unification by force, while the Americans tried to prevent Southern leader Rhee Syngman from doing the same and therefore did not heavily arm him
4. Kim Is Sung believed that under those circumstances he could succeed through war
The Korean War is considered to be a proxy war fought between the US and the USSR. Kim Il-Sung was installed into power in North Korea by the USSR after the Japanese occupation was removed from Korea and the country was divided. Although the leaders of both Koreas were intent on reunification, the leader of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, decided that nothing short of military action would bring the country back together. The US intervened after North Korea invaded, because South Korea was the territory ceded to their control after the close of WWII. America, keen to prevent the spread of communism sent troops to South Korea to reclaim the territory lost to Kim Il-Sung’s army. As far as it’s impact on superpower relations, it was a definite catalytic factor for early tension in the Cold War. Neither side wanted to see their sphere of influence stopped, especially in territories given to them in post WWII negotiations. Interestingly, the Korean War is also credited as a major contributing fac
