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North Korea's Wartime Production and Support from China and the Soviet Union during the Korean War

Soo-Ryong Jo 1

1경희대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study has traced the way North Korea met the demands of armaments and what roles China and the Soviet Union had played during the Korean War. Before the war, North Korea was at the beginning stage of the defense industry. North Korea had basic industry to produce munitions such as the factory no. 65 thanks to the support from the Soviet Union. But it was not at a level to conduct the war independently. Thus, North Korea had to obtain most of its munitions required to fight the war from the Soviet Union. As North Korea prepared for the war relying on the aid offered by other countries, it could not be ready for a long-term war. The North Korean leadership supposed that the war would last a month and only secured two month's supplies; it started the war with the minimum preparation to conduct war. However, the North Korean People's Army was thrown in the unexpected long-term war and total war as it was decided that the US armed forces to enter the war right after the war began. Accordingly, some measures were improvised to switchover industries to war industries, yet North Korea failed to properly handle such issues as the US air force's bombing of the supply routes. The industrial infrastructure of North Korea, significantly damaged by bombardments of the US air force from July to October 1950, started to collapse when they retreated to the North in October. The North Korean leadership tried to evacuate the industrial facilities, but it mostly failed to do so. After the retreat in October in 1950, North Korea’s industrial productivity dropped to 10% of its original level before the war. Under the circumstances when the existence of North Korea was at the stake, not to mention the conducting of the war, the war could be continued as China and the Soviet Union supported North Korea with the military and economic assistance. The Soviet Union played an important role in continuing the war by supplying most of the weapons needed by China and North Korea. However, it became reluctant in supplying weapons from June 1951, which distressed Kim Il-sung who hoped to end the war as early as possible. Unlike the Soviet Union, China offered Manchuria to North Korea as rear base, and sustained the economy of North Korea with tremendous financial and material resources apart from supplying troops. Although China was far from the Soviet Union when it comes to an absolute amount of support, the contrasting attitudes of the two countries during the course of the support deeply impressed Kim Il-sung; it somewhat affected the development of relationships between North Korea and the Soviet Union as well as North Korea and China.

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