During World War II, the Korean Peninsula was occupied by Japan, and after Japan's surrender, the United States and the Soviet Union occupied the southern and northern parts of the Korean Peninsula respectively, bounded by the 38th parallel north latitude. Later, the North and the South were established separately, and the Korean Peninsula was divided. At that time, the total population of the "Republic of Korea" was 21 million, and the total population of North Korea was 9 million. Syngman Rhee believes that this is a huge advantage, coupled with the support of the United States behind it, so after he was elected president of the "Republic of Korea", he frantically clamored for "northward reunification" and constantly created tensions.
Under the influence of Rhee, his group of officials were also crazy one by one. On July 17, 1949, Shin Sang-mo, then defense minister of the Republic of Korea, delivered a speech in Incheon, declaring: "Our army is waiting for the order of our president. As soon as he gives an order, we will occupy Pyongyang and Wonsan in one day. "The magnitude of the tone is astonishing. Compared with Syngman Rhee, Kim Il Sung is much more restrained and more calm. Quietly, he grew the Korean People's Army to 100,000 people and completed the rearmament with the help of the Soviet Union.
At this time, the strength of the Korean People's Army had far exceeded that of the Rok army, and Kim Il Sung believed that the time had come, so on the night of June 25, 1950, he commanded 7 divisions of troops to cross the 38th Line and launched a fierce attack on the ROK army. Although Rhee and his men were very loud in peacetime, at the beginning of the war, the ROK army collapsed under the onslaught of the Korean People's Army. On the first day of the war, the ancient capital of Kaesong was lost; the next day, the government was lost; and on the third day, even Seoul was lost. The han army ran away in batches, only hating that his father and mother had given two legs less.
The South Korean army was defeated so quickly that it greatly exceeded the expectations of the Americans, and in order to protect its interests on the Korean Peninsula, the US military began to send troops to intervene in the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, the vanguard of the U.S. 24th Infantry Division led by Lieutenant Colonel Smith met the 4th Division of the Korean People's Army in Suwon, and was almost completely annihilated in the first exchange. On 7 July, the Korean People's Army took advantage of the victory to launch the Battle of Daejeon, and the US 24th Division was again defeated and the division commander Dean was also captured. The Korean People's Army continued its long march, liberating 90 percent of the Korean Peninsula and 92 percent of the population in just over a month, and compressing the U.S.-Rok coalition forces in the Busan area, with victory in sight.
However, unexpectedly, the war situation suddenly changed, MacArthur and Walker commanded the US-Rok coalition to launch a fierce counterattack, the Korean People's Army could not resist, all the way to the defeat, even Pyongyang fell. Many people attribute the defeat of the Korean People's Army to the Inchon landing, but in fact, the defeat of the Korean People's Army was already doomed long before the Inchon landing. A month after the outbreak of the war, although the Korean People's Army was in a strong position, Kim Il Sung made serious mistakes in its strategic approach, blindly pursuing the expansion of territorial territory, and almost every battle was a straight line and flat, and rarely detoured. In this way, the battle became a rout, and the enemy's living forces did not suffer too much loss.
On the other hand, the Korean People's Army, although it ostensibly occupied a lot of places, paid a great price, and the losses in the Battle of Nakdong river were particularly heavy. By the beginning of August, the Korean People's Army had lost more than 58,000 troops, and although there were still 11 divisions in the front line, the total strength was only more than 69,000. Moreover, nearly half of the artillery was lost, the shells were almost exhausted, and only 40 tanks were left. And what is the total strength of the "United Nations Army" at this time? Nearly 200,000! The strength of the Korean People's Army is almost three times that of the Korean People's Army, in addition to thousands of aircraft, countless tanks and warships. Such a comparison of troop strength and firepower, even without the Inchon landing, the Korean People's Army is already defeated!