Operation Chromite was the code name for the landing at Inchon by the United States marine Corps First Division and the United States Army's 7th Division in September, 1950. This was followed by the liberation of Seoul, the breakout of the Eighth Army, the destruction of the NKPA, the restoration of the 38th Parallel, and the reestablishment of the Republic of Korea. The Korean War was probably the first major test of American resolve to fight Communist aggression, and it proved to be a war unlike any the U.S. had fought before. Korea was a country divided before the start of the war, and the war itself was a matter of North against South, of Korean against Korean, with each side also being supported by outside forces contributing combatants and material. The war ended in an uneasy truce and an agreement that was hammered out over a long period of discussion, but tensions between North and South continued long after that and still remain something of a problem to this day.
After 1949, two hostile forces began digging defenses along the 38th Parallel, and each was determined to have all of Korea. Border clashes broke out in 1950, escalating to a considerable degree over time. The forces in the North were much stronger and better armed than those in the South. The Soviets had no compunction about the North invading the South and were in fact encouraging it. The aims of the U.S. and South Korea were to repel any invasion, to prevent a Communist takeover of all of Korea, and to strengthen South Korean forces so they could defend their own border, though not so strengthened that they would push for an invasion of the North. The effort was also seen as a test of collective security.
The North Korean war aim was to over-run the South and unify Korea under Communist principles. The Soviets had encouraged this, and the Chinese would join the war in October and push for the same goal.
The United States in 1949 left behind ...