Soviet Union in the Korean War
Though not officially a belligerent during the
Background
Soviet Occupation of Northern Korea (1945–1948)
The Soviet 25th Army took part in the Soviet advance into northern Korea immediately after World War II had ended, and was headquartered at Pyongyang for a period. Like the American forces in the south, Soviet troops remained in Korea after the end of the war to rebuild the country.[2]
Soviet soldiers were instrumental in the creation and early development of the
Cold War
When the war broke out in 1950, the communist Soviet Union, China, and their allies were already locked into a "Cold War" with capitalist countries. Both sides felt that the Korean War carried the potential to further destabilize the precarious relations between both sides, while also offering possible advantages.
In April 1950, Stalin gave Kim permission to invade the South under the condition that Mao would agree to send reinforcements if needed. Stalin made it clear that Soviet forces would not openly engage in combat, to avoid a direct war with the US.[4] Kim met with Mao in May 1950. Mao was concerned the US would intervene but agreed to support the North Korean invasion. China desperately needed the economic and military aid promised by the Soviets.[5] However, Mao sent more ethnic Korean PLA veterans to Korea and promised to move an army closer to the Korean border.[6] Once Mao's commitment was secured, preparations for war accelerated.[7][8]
As American and
Soviet aid to North Korean forces
Medical aid
Along with several "
Material aid
Soviet military aid was instrumental to equipping both the
Soviet material aid was also fundamental for the air forces of both North Korea and China. By April 1950, the Soviet Union had provided 63 of the North Korean Air Force's 178 aircraft, which until September 1950 proved highly effective against minimal South Korean air defenses (which was more heavily backed by US and UN air forces instead)[12]
Soviet air intervention
64th Fighter Aviation Corps 64-й истребительный авиационный корпус (64 иак) | |
---|---|
Active | 15 November 1950 – December 1954 MiG-15 Jet Fighters |
An important area in which Soviet intervention was key in the Korean War was in the air-war. Soviet innovation in aircraft design, as well as the experience of many of its pilots following the
Both the Chinese and North Korean air forces were structured and equipped along Soviet lines because of the help that the Soviet Union had given them in their first years. In October 1950, the
In addition to the widely known MiG-15 force of 64th Fighter Corps, there were also significant anti-aircraft gun, searchlight and technical units despatched to Manchuria as part of the same unit.[13]
Soviet pilots
- Aleksandr Smorchkov(12)
- Nikolay Ivanov(6)
- Semyon Fedorets (7)
- Yevgeny Pepelyayev(19)
- Sergei Kramarenko (13)
- Nikolai Sutyagin (22)
Soviet pilots were active in Korea from November 1950. In order to hide this direct Soviet intervention, precautions were taken to disguise their involvement, open knowledge of which would have been a major diplomatic embarrassment for the USSR.
Soviet pilots wore Chinese uniforms when flying, whilst rules were prescribed to stop Soviet pilots flying near the coast or front lines (where they might be captured if shot down) and from speaking Russian on the aircraft radio. All aircraft flown carried Chinese or North Korean markings.[17] When not flying, for reasons of ethnicity, on the ground Soviet pilots 'played' the roles of Soviet commercial travellers rather than Chinese or North Korean soldiers.
Soviet pilots flying
The lack of a shared language between Soviet, Chinese and North Korean pilots frequently led to
MiG-15s
The MiG-15 was a jet aircraft, supplied in large numbers to Chinese and North Korean forces during the war by the Soviet Union. Owing to their modern design (they were at least a match for the best
At the outbreak of the war, the North Koreans flying Soviet aircraft like the
By contrast, when the MiG-15 appeared in Korea, it immediately challenged this air superiority, since it could outclass all fixed-wing American jets in Korea at the time (not to mention the aged propeller-driven
Recognising the importance of the MiG, the UN command devised
Contemporary awareness of Soviet participation
Though the Soviet Union never acknowledged its participation in the conflict, it is clear that many suspected it. Soviet pilots, though forbidden from communicating in any language other than basic Korean across their radios, often resorted to Russian when stressed or when swearing. This was picked up by Commonwealth and US pilots.
Reports of Soviet involvement in the conflict quickly made their way up the United Nations chain of command. Nevertheless, reports of covert Soviet involvement were always denied by the Soviet Union, and the United States government was not inclined to press the issue so as to avoid escalating tensions further. Over time, both superpowers came to see the situation as a unique opportunity to test their aviation technology and tactics in combat against the forces of the opposing superpower without the conflict spiraling into World War III.
It was only recently, through the publication of books by Chinese and Russian authors, such as Zhang Xiaoming, Leonid Krylov, Yuriy Tepsurkaev and Igor Seydov, that the extent of the Soviets' participation became clear.
Legacy for Sino-Soviet relations
Contrary to expectations, the Soviet intervention in Korea did not inspire the
In effect, Zhang Xiaoming argues that the Chinese came to feel that the Soviet Union was both an unreliable and demanding ally and took greater steps to ensure autarky from the USSR in the years following the War.[15] In 1960, China broke from the Soviet Union in an event known today as the Sino-Soviet split, creating a rift amongst all communist powers which were expected to pick one side of the divide. The North Korean regime, which bordered both countries, successfully navigated the split by playing one power off the other. It did not firmly align with either power until the Soviet reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev compelled the regime to align with China.
This split, certainly influenced by the Korean War,[according to whom?] shaped relations between the two countries until 1989.
See also
References
- ^ Historian Kim Hakjoon argues that, “the many telegrams that Moscow and P’yǒngyang exchanged from January to June 1950, and, more important, the secret meetings between Stalin and Kim [Il Sung] in Moscow in April and Mao and Kim in Beijing during May, confirmed that the three Communist leaders were responsible for starting the Korean War on the morning of June 25, 1950.” quoted in Steven Lee, “The Korean War in History and Historiography.” Journal of American-East Asian Relations 21#2 (2014): 185–206. doi:10.1163/18765610-02102010 at p 190.
- ISBN 0801489148.
- ^ "North Korea: The Founding of the Armed Forces". ROK National Intelligence Service. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ Weathersby, Kathryn (2002), "Should We Fear This?" Stalin and the Danger of War with America, Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 39, p. 10
- ISBN 978-9629962807.
- ^ Weathersby, Kathryn (1993), Soviet Aims in Korea and the Origins of the Korean War, 1945–50: New Evidence From the Russian Archives, Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 8, p. 29
- ^ Weathersby, Kathryn (2002), "Should We Fear This?" Stalin and the Danger of War with America, Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 39, p. 13
- ^ Mark O'Neill, "Soviet Involvement in the Korean War: A New View from the Soviet-Era Archives", OAH Magazine of History, Spring 2000, p. 21.
- ^ Robert Dornan, Accounting for POW – MIAs from the Korean War and the Vietnam War (1996) pp. 31–32
- ^ "Communist Chinese Type 50 sub-machine gun - the "burp" gun". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ^ "T34/85 tank". Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
- ISBN 0313259240.
- ^ a b Sewell, Stephen L. "Soviet Air Order of Battle - Korea 1950-53". Korean-war.com. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ "64th Fighter Aviation Corps in Korea". Skywar.ru. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Xiaoming, Zhang (Spring 2002). "China, the Soviet Union, and the Korean War: From an Abortive Air War Plan to a Wartime Relationship". Journal of Conflict Studies. 22 (1). Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ Seidov 2014, pp. 45–48.
- ^ Georgi Lobov, "Black Spots of History: In the Skies of North Korea," JPRS Report, JPRS-UAC-91-003 (28 June 1991), p. 30
- ^ Jon Halliday, "Air Operations in Korea: The Soviet Side of the Story," in William J. William, ed., A Revolutionary War: Korea and the Transformation of the Postwar World (Chicago, Illinois: Imprint Publications, 1993), p. 154
- ^ Zampini, Diego. "Russian Aces over Korea". Acepilots.com. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ "Flight to Freedom: America's first MiG". Historicwings.com. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
- ^ Chen Jian and Yang Kuisong, "Chinese Politics and the Collapse of the Sino-Soviet Alliance," in Odd Arne Westad, ed., Brother in Arms: The Rise and Fall of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945–1963 (Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998), p. 257
Further reading
- Agov, Avram. "North Korea's alliances and the unfinished Korean War." Journal of Korean Studies 18.2 (2013): 225–262. online[dead link]
- Goncharov, Sergei N., John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai. Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War (Stanford University Press, 1993). online
- Kim, Yǒng-jin (1973). Major Powers and Korea. Silver Spring, MD: Research Institute on Korean Affairs. OCLC 251811671.
- Lee, Steven. “The Korean War in History and Historiography.” Journal of American-East Asian Relations 21#2 (2014): 185–206. doi:10.1163/18765610-02102010
- Matray, James I., and Donald W. Boose Jr, eds. The Ashgate research companion to the Korean War (2014) excerpt; covers historiography
- Seidov, Igor (2014). Red Devils over the Yalu: A Chronicle of Soviet Aerial Operations in the Korean War 1950–53. Solihull: Helion and Company. ISBN 9781909384415.
- Stueck, William W. (1995), The Korean War: An International History, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691037677
- Stueck, William W. (2002), Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691118475
- Weathersby, Kathryn. "The Soviet role in the early phase of the Korean war: new documentary evidence." Journal of American-East Asian Relations (1993): 425-458 online.
- Weathersby, Kathryn (1993), Soviet Aims in Korea and the Origins of the Korean War, 1945–50: New Evidence From the Russian Archives, Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 8
- Weathersby, Kathryn (2002), "Should We Fear This?" Stalin and the Danger of War with America, Cold War International History Project: Working Paper No. 39
- Werrell, Kenneth P. (2005). Sabres Over MiG Alley. Annapolis, MD: ISBN 978-1591149330.
- Zhihua, Shen. "Sino-Soviet relations and the origins of the Korean War: Stalin's strategic goals in the Far East." Journal of Cold War Studies 2.2 (2000): 44–68. online Archived 8 May 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- Zhihua, Shen. Mao, Stalin and the Korean war: Trilateral communist relations in the 1950s (Routledge, 2012).
External links
- Zhang Xiaoming, China, the Soviet Union, and the Korean War: From an Abortive Air War Plan to a Wartime Relationship, Journal for Conflict Studies (Vol. XXII No. 1 Spring 2002)
- Russian Aces of the Korean War
- 64th Fighter Air Corps in Korea
- Wilson Center, Soviet aims in Korea and the Origins of the Korean War 1945-50 - New Evidence
- Wilson Center, The Sino-Soviet Alliance and China's Entry to the Korean War
- Wilson Center, CWIHP Bulletin 6-7 Archived 3 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- КОРЕЙСКАЯ ВОЙНА 1950 – 1953 ГГ Archived 13 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)