2005, Vol., No.57호

military history 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.94

pISSN : 1598-317X / eISSN : 2713-8992
https://journal.kci.go.kr/imhc

In this article I discuss the war leadership of the General Van Fleet, who served as the commander of the Eighth United States Army during the Korean War, and the role he assumed for the growth and development of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. I believe, as an ROK Army officer who had more contact with the general than any other, that my experience with and perspective upon him will be of value to scholars. During the two years he was the Eighth Army commander, Van Fleet focused his attention on the battles and on enhancing the battle capacity of the ROK Armed Forces. He mounted a particular effort to increase the ROK officers' efficiency in commanding their units and battle performance. For that aim he had many officers study at American educational institutes, and founded in Korea various educational institutes, among them the Korea Military Academy. He was also the founder of numerous corps-level units and many divisions. As a result the ROK Army achieved rapid growth and exhibited distinct signs of progress. Many ROK officers, including myself, received positive impression of his individuality, and were fond of his assertive character and affable, honest attitude. His experience and knowledge of guerrilla warfare were of particular value to us. General Van Fleet took the forerunner's place in nurturing the ROK Army to a well-trained military organization through education, training and increased battle capacity. That his efforts contributed to securing the foundation of the present ROK Armed Forces is undeniable.

The purpose of this study is to analyze about the Wartime Rear Policies of North Korea during the Korea War (1950～1953). In this study analysis of the wartime rear mobilization were conducted. After the year 1949 the North Korea' regime pushes ahead on the ready to the war. Specially this study is to analyze the mobilization and lives of the residents in the rear of North Korea from 1949 to 1953. The second chapter is to analyze the building process and scheme of the wartime mobilizing system in North Korea during the Korea War. The third chapter is to research the policies about the residents mobilization about frontline and guerrillas. The fourth chapter is to analyze policies about the collecting of the war funds and the mobilization of the war finances. And the fifth chapter is to study rear polices about the damaged persons in the war and their reliefs. Specially the reliefs were firstly forced to women in North Korea. The conclusion of this study is that the rear policies of North Korea during the Korea War were re-illuminated.

Since the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the US military strategy has radically changed from the traditional concept of ‘contain and deter' to a new strategic concept of ‘deter and defeat.' Since September 11, the US has emphasized homeland security and actively led wars on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. The US strategy of force deployment has also radically changed under President Bush's leadership. In the past, the US leadership emphasized the strategic concept of ‘victory on two major theater wars' and pursued expansion of foreign military bases for its force deployment. However, since September 11, 2001, Bush administration has put more emphasis on force readiness against worldwide unpredictable multiple threats to the US and its allies' security. And the US changes its basic military strategy from the troop deployment strategy to power projection strategy directly from the US homeland. This changes of the US military strategy directly influenced to the United States Forces in Korea (USFK). Bush administration intends transforming the USFK to rapid reaction forces, escaping from the role of trip wire in the north of Han River, in order to deploy them quickly into the conflicting areas in Asia-Pacific region. For this purpose, Bush administration pursues re-deployment of the USFK in the southern part of Han River. In this article I will examine the US major official publications that directly influenced the US overseas force deployment strategy, and provide a prospect on the USFK future. Finally, I will propose policy suggestion for the prosperous future of the US-ROK alliance. The US and the ROK should pay more attention to strengthening the alliance rather than arguing the past unhappy happenings.