I have noticed that there were many posts made about the Korean War, however, as a Korean, I will write about general MacArthur and the Korean War as seen on the eyes of a Korean, South Korean.
The Korean War was one of the biggest and the most tragic event in the history of modern Korean history. For both North and South, the war created hundreds and thousands of death whether it was due to the battle, starvation, or disease. In the beginning of the war, the North invaded most of the South Korea’s territory and managed to make its way further down the peninsula in hopes of uniting Korea under communist rule; the South Korean troops were outnumbered by the North Korean troops. As a result, the forces of United Nations and the U.S army came in to help turn the tide. Yet, North Korea still managed to attack and conquer many of South Korea’s major cities and the South only had Busan, located at the very bottom of the peninsula, left in its hands. Then, general MacArthur appeared. He has made a plan to take his troops and land on the bay of Incheon. At that time, Incheon was already in the hands of the North and it was located in the middle of the peninsula that his plan seemed no help to the battle, or even, a great risk. However, general and his forces’ landing on Incheon and attacking the North Korean army not only cut the flow of North Koreans to further go downward, but it also became a turning point of the war that allowed the South Korean army, UN army, and U.S army to march up all the way near the Chinese border. Although the war temporarily stopped along the 38 parallel due to Chinese army helping the North, general MacArthur’s bravery and his troops’ success in turning the tide of the war to secure South Korea is still appreciated. In South Korea, General MacArthur is even portrayed as one of the heroes of the Korean War.
If general MacArthur did not exist, or if he had never planed to land on Incheon, I am quite certain that the South Korea today would not exist. Personally, without South Korea, I might not be here right now, or I would just be one of the many North Korean citizens living under communist rule. In the greater picture, if North Korea was to conquer the Korean peninsula, the communism might have been a greater threat today. I say this because North Korea could have allied and influenced China and together become the two great communist forces of Asia that fights against the democratic forces of the west such as the U.S or some European nations.