Korean War

In 1950, Korea fought a civil war over the spread of communism.  Communists from the north tried to take over the south.  What role did the US play in this war?

• The US and its allies went to Vietnam to fight Korean Communists.
• The US and its allies joined the fight to keep communism from spreading.
• The US and its allies fought to defend the North.
• The US and its allies did not join the war.

The Soviet Union and USA became involved in Korea as they both occupied Korea after the defeat of Japan in World War II.

• True
• False

South Korea was represented by __________, while North Korea was represented by _____________.

• Syngman Rhee, Kim Il Sung
• Syngman Rhee, Kim Jong Un
• Song Joong Ki, Kim Il Sung
• Syngman Rhee, Kim Joonmyun

Why did the USA continue supporting Syngman Rhee despite his increasingly authoritarian rule?

• They wanted a dictator to rule South Korea
• Syngman Rhee paid the USA lots of money
• To prevent the spread of communism from the North
• They were waiting to find a better leader

Both Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee agreed that:

• Korea should be united under one rule
• Korea should be split into the North and South
• Korea should be ruled by the United Nations
• Korea should go back to Japanese rule

Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee were both willing to use ________ if necessary to unite Korea.

• love
• peace
• faith
• force

Korea was important to the communist bloc as

• The communists wanted as much support as possible
• Korea was geographically close to China and the Soviet Union
• The USA were interested in Korea
• Communists loved eating kimchi

Communist victory in China caused Soviet Union to be more involved in Korea because with an additional ally, China, it gave Soviet Union more _____________ in having to fight against the democratic camp if the need arose.

• worries
• confidence
• incentive
• trouble

Initially, Korea was not as strategically important to the USA. It announced interest in countries such as Japan, Philippines and Taiwan. This was known as the

• US interest area
• US Pacific area
• US defensive perimeter
• US colonial region

There was a military imbalance between South and North Korea as the USA was wary of Syngman Rhee's leadership, whereas the Soviet Union trained the soldiers in the North well so they could swiftly conquer South Korea.

• True
• False