By Andy Jackson
The last time I checked, Seoul was not a sea of flames and children at the elementary school near my apartment do not start their day singing praises of the Dear Leader.
By that measure alone, the alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States can be declared a success.
It was an alliance built for a single purpose; to prevent North Korea and its communist allies from attempting a second invasion of South Korea or, failing that, to repel an invasion.
The North Koreans tested that alliance and the resolve of its partners numerous times over the past several decades. The greatest challenge was during the 1966-1969 DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) War (also known as the Second Korean War), during which the North Korea attempted to instigate conflict.
On Oct.5, 1966, Kim Il-sung said at a Korean Workers Party conference that, ``In the present situation, the U.S. imperialists should be dealt blows and their forces dispersed to the maximum in Asia and Europe, Africa and Latin America . . . Socialist countries should fight more sharply against them . . . there can be no vacillation or passivity on this point.''
On Nov. 2, less than a month after Kim's speech, North Korean troops attacked a United Nations Command patrol, killing six Americans and one Korean. It was the start of a four-year campaign of infiltration, guerrilla warfare and terror during which 75 American servicemen and 299 South Korean soldiers were killed.
With U.S. attention and manpower directed towards the ongoing war in Vietnam and antiwar protestors on American streets, Kim believed that the Americans would not be in a position to support South Korea.
Like in 1950, he miscalculated. Rather than abandon South Korea, the U.S. diverted troops bound for Vietnam to Korea and increased patrols along the DMZ.
Kim Il-sung also woefully underestimated the South Koreans. Unlike during the start of the 1950-1953 conflict, South Korean soldiers were adequately trained and equipped. ROK forces were able to deal with North Korean attacks while simultaneously keeping almost three divisions in Vietnam to support the U.S.-led effort against communist forces there.
The North Koreans, who believed that South Korea was simply an American imperial outpost, were surprised by the resistance that ordinary South Koreans gave to them. The bulk of the South Korean people supported their government and many joined militias to defend their communities. The Homeland Defense Reserve Forces created by the Park Chung-hee administration were highly effective in rooting out North Korean agents and their collaborators.
The conflict reached its apex in January 1968 in the two incidents that are most remembered by South Koreans and Americans.
On Jan. 21, a team of 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated the DMZ and got within 800 meters of the Cheong Wa Dae. Their mission was to assassinate President Park in the hope that it would instigate instability and start an uprising in South Korea. Their raid failed mainly because a group of civilians they had encountered on their way alerted authorities.
Only two days after the Cheong Wa Dae raid, North Korean forces seize the USS Pueblo, an American electronic surveillance ship operating off the east coast of North Korea. One American sailor was killed in the attack and another 82 were held captive for 11 months.
But North Korea could not maintain the offensive and by the end of 1969 cross-DMZ attacks had largely diminished to pre-war levels.
The war had long-term impacts on South Korea and its alliance with the United States.
The war did put some strain on the alliance. Park wanted to launch retaliatory attacks against the North, especially after the Cheong Wa Dae raid. With an ongoing war in Vietnam, the American government did not want a full-scale conflict on another front and refused. However the alliance endured and gave South Korea a secure environment to continue its rapid economic development.
ROK soldiers proved that they could handle their own against North Korea's best soldiers. By the end of the conflict, ROK forces had taken over almost all major combat operations. This marked a major turning point in the alliance. From that point on, rather than defending South Korea, the mission of the American forces was to assist South Koreans defending themselves. It was the beginning of a long process of reductions in American personnel in Korea.
However, the conflict also led to a loss of civil liberties for South Koreans. Faced with a threat from North Korean subversion, President Park cracked down on all opponents of the government. While security forces were highly effective in netting hundreds of North Korean agents and collaborators, they also suppressed legitimate political dissent. It was a process that continued through the 1970s and 1980s and the affects of which influence the Korean body politic to this today.
Andy Jackson teaches American government in the Lakeland College bridge program at Ansan College, Gyeonggi Province. He can be reached at andyinrok@lycos.com