The Korean physical war lasted from 1950 to 1953. The war began with the invasion of the North Korean bloc against southern Korea. The attack was allegedly because South Korean regional leader Syngman Rhee spread his liberal ideology around the border of the two regions. Finally the war between the two regions was inevitable.
The North Korean bloc is aided by Chinese formed troops (People Volunteer Army / PVA). Meanwhile, the Soviets supported weapons and instruments of war. Meanwhile, seeing the territory of South Korea being invaded, the United Nations did not remain silent. United Nations troops and the United States military are helping South Korea.
A series of events occurred in a physical war that lasted about three years. One of the monumental is the battle of the Hill of the Triangle or Triangle Hill. Walter G. Hermes in Truce Tent and Fighting Front (1992) called the war the biggest and bloodiest war in 1952.
Triangle Hill is located in Gangwon province, South Korea, which borders North Korea. Triangle Hill became a contested location of the two countries at that time.
Operation Triangle Hill is also called Showdown operation, meaning that the UN is calling for simultaneous attacks on the Triangle Hill and Sniper Ridge areas.
Two battalions were deployed for the operation. One battalion from the 31st US Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division ambushed Triangle Hill. While one battalion from the 32nd Regiment of the Republic of Korea (South Korea / ROK), the 2nd Infantry Division attacked the Sniper Ridge area.
In the operation, the UN predicts the attack will not last more than five days with a maximum death toll of 200 people from the United Nations. The prediction is based on the assumption of the maximum number of artillery and support from air strikes will be available.
But on the North Korean bloc side, Triangle Hill is defended by the 8th and 9th Kompani, while the Sniper Ridge area is protected by the first Kompani consisting of the 135th Regiment, 45th Division, and 15th Troops.
They have also prepared defenses against possible attacks. In this effort they built a complex defense network. For example they made tunnels as far as 9,000 meters, 50,000 meters of trenches, and 5,000 meters of minefields.
As a result of the Triangle Hill operation, 365 US troops were killed, 1,174 injured, and 1 person captured. While from South Korea 1,096 people were killed, 3,496 people were injured, and 97 people were missing.
While from the North Korean bloc originating from Chinese sources, there were 4,838 people killed, and 6,691 people injured. While the United Nations estimates the number of victims from the South Korean side to reach 19,000 people.
Early Korean split
Long before the Korean War occurred, Korean territory was under Japanese rule. Pressure from the Japanese occupation made Korean nationalism rise. As a result they had a chance to create an independence movement called the united Korean people's movement on March 1, 1919. Then Korean figures from various ideological backgrounds such as Syngman Rhee, Park Eunsik, Yi Donghwi, Kim Kyusik and Lee Dongnyeong came together. They established Korea's interim government.
They then formulated the constitution and brought it to China on April 11, 1919 for a declaration of government. China was chosen because before Japan came to power, Korean territory was under the rule of the Qing dynasty. Then on April 13, 1919 the declaration was held in Shanghai and Syngman was appointed president.
Although the Korean government has been formed it does not really have a positive impact on Koreans. In fact they are under increasing pressure from Japan. Because Japan was still very strong at that time.
This pressure lasted until Japan surrendered to allies in World War II. This practically makes the former Japanese occupation experience a power vacuum including Korea.
The momentum was then used by Korean leaders to reunite the Korean region or known as Unification. So at that time there was a temporary division of territory. The North was secured by Communist ideology headed by Kim il-sung, while the South was secured by the Liberal ideology led by Syngman Rhee.
It was the divisions that manifested in the Korean War that until this moment made Korean territory divided in two.
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