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The Influence of the United States Military Policies for the Republic of Korea upon the ROK Naval Power during the Korean War - Focused on the Operations, Tactics Doctrine and Professional Manpower -

임성채 1

1해군본부 역사기록관리단

Accredited

ABSTRACT

With the end of the World War Ⅱ, the United States occupied South Korea and passively supported South Korea with military assistance after due consideration of the political and military dynamic relationship with the Communist power. After North Korea's invasion broke out in 1950 on the Korean Peninsula, the United States judged it as a challenge from the Communist power and dispatched troops, supported the Republic of Korea (ROK) with military assistance actively. The United States received a commission of operational control authority from United Nations and conducted a war with the UN Forces under the command of the US to achieve the objective of war which was to repulse the North Korean People's Army (NKPA) behind the latitude 38 degrees north and regain the territories. The US established the operational command system, and chose a direct military assistance method by the US Forces such as tanks, warships, aircraft, ammunition and oil for the participants in a war at the local areas in order to attain the objective of war effectively. Meanwhile, as the war was prolonged and temporarily suspended, KMAG made an effort to cultivate a manpower of the ROK Armed Forces that ROK independently operate its military for the future. Then, the US, who judged that the objective of war had been achieved, concluded the Armistice Agreement with the Chinese Communist Forces and the NKPA, and also entered into the Mutual Defense Treaty with the ROK as its measure. In this way, the strategies and policies that the US carried out during the war had an impact on the development of ROK Naval Power as well as after the Armistice Agreement. The influence can be divided into two categories, short-term impacts during the war and long-term impacts after the armistice, As for the short-term impacts during the war, a primary factor on each part and reinforcement level of ROK Naval Power is as follows. 1. The main factor of the development of the ROK Navy's operational and tactical doctrine is the combined operations of the United Nation Navy. The ROK Navy was able to acquire the operational and tactical doctrine of an advanced navy through a variety combined operations such as blockades, convoy operations, amphibious operations, mine sweeping operations and naval gunfire support operations. Also, the ROK Navy originally exploited operational and tactical doctrine that is suitable for the geographical conditions in Korean Peninsular. It was a huge acquisition that the ROK Navy obtained the doctrine in a short period of three years whereas other advanced nations had developed for several decades. 2. The support from KMAG affected the cultivation of manpower of the ROK Navy. The ROK's superior manpower went abroad for study in the US military school with the support from the KMAG to cultivate the specialists of each military branch. The trained manpower fulfilled a important role of building naval power, and also became the teachers after the armistice. As a result, the Korean War was the crucial turning point in the development of the ROK Navy from a historical point of view. Because the ROK Navy was able to have the ability to defend its own territorial waters independently as a sovereign nation due to the United States' policy and support during the war.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.