The Second Korean War: A Forgotten Conflict 1966 - 1969

[Music] this episode is brought to you by curiosity stream a subscription streaming service created by the founder of the discovery channel that offers thousands of documentaries and non-fiction titles from some of the world's best filmmakers including exclusive originals like adolf hitler the itinerary an immense study of hitler's movements from childhood to the end of his life and d-day hidden traces that uses archaeology to uncover what was left behind in normandy by allied and axis troops from helmets to bunkers get unlimited access starting at just 2.99 a month or 19.99 a year and for my audience the first 30 days are completely free if you sign up at curiositystream.com forward slash mark felton and use the promo code mark felton during the sign up process curiosity stream the best streaming service for lovers of history this is the story of a largely forgotten cold war conflict the second korean war that occurred between 1966 and 1969 precisely when america was mired in the vietnam war u.s soldiers were killed and wounded during constant combat along the border separating north and south korea dramatic events hardly discussed today most people are familiar with the korean war that occurred between 1950 and 1953 it was a conflict that had its roots in world war ii when japan surrendered in august 1945 its forces still occupied much of korea which had been a japanese colony since 1911. soviet forces had occupied parts of the north in a short campaign against the japanese while u.s forces arrived in the south to disarm and repatriate the japanese occupiers korea was divided into two occupation zones along the 38th parallel in the north the soviets created a puppet communist state north korea ruled by kim il-sung while in the south a puppet capital estate was created by the u.s led by sigmund re known as south korea both nations claimed to be the legitimate government of all korea a situation that remains to the present day in june 1950 the north koreans with soviet permission invaded the south conquering most of the nation a united nations force led by the u.s was formed to counter north korea and following a brilliant amphibious invasion at inchon led by general douglas macarthur the un forces broke out at the busan perimeter in the far south linking up with macarthur's landing forces sending the north koreans reeling back across the 38th parallel the un pursued the north koreans to the yalu river the border with communist china causing chairman mao zedong to launch a huge counter-offensive to save the north koreans this pushed the u.n forces back down to the 38th parallel and beyond until the un managed to push the chinese and north koreans back over the border for two years the war became a battle of attrition the lines hardly moving though fighting was intense on the 27th of july 1953 an armistice was signed the north remained communist the south democratic the border the 38th parallel but a wide strip of territory along the border became a buffer zone called the demilitarized zone or dmz or an american dmz to create some space between the two sides significant u.s forces remained in south korea to help the government defend the nation from further north korean attacks there were many cross-border incidents and shootings but between 1966 and 1969 quite large-scale fighting broke out along the dmz that involved thousands of u.s troops during a difficult time for america for during the new conflict the u.s was heavily committed to the war in vietnam which stole all the limelight and all the headlines hardly anyone today knows about what has come to be called the second korean war the forgotten conflict along the 38th parallel that came close to full-scale war in 1962 north korean leader kim il-sung proposed a new strategy which included irregular warfare agitation and propaganda towards the south then as the vietnam war hotted up u.s infantry and marine divisions were progressively transferred out of south korea to vietnam leaving a much-reduced u.s security force to back up the south korean army in 1966 kim saw an opportunity irregular warfare along the dmz would be more successful now that much of the us military strength had been redeployed to vietnam kim hoped to cause the u.s to give up its protection for south korea allowing him to foment an insurrection to remove president park chung-hee's administration in seoul in 1966 the north korean people's army the nkpa deployed eight infantry divisions along the border with eight more in reserve plus three motorized divisions an armored division and various independent brigades in total the nkpa had 386 000 troops within striking distance of south korea the us had two infantry divisions the second and seventh on the border alongside nine south korean divisions two u.s infantry divisions stand ready to back up the south koreans close to the dmz astride a traditional invasion route to seoul is our second infantry division geared for instant action patrols of the second are daily searching the countryside for any sign of infiltrators these patrols are in deadly earnest because infiltration is a reality and these men never know at what instant they may be brought under fire by an enemy ambush the other us division on duty the seventh stands by on call to move its forces wherever needed exacting training and discipline keep the men at the peak of readiness members of the south korean army who volunteered to serve within u.s army units join in the training [Music] the two u.s divisions were under strength due to the need to send replacements to vietnam they were also short of equipment the gis had not been issued with the new m16 rifles used in vietnam instead they still use the older m14 available tanks were older m48 a2c patents and incredibly there were only 12 uh-1 huey helicopters in all of south korea meaning the u.s corps was not very mobile the rank-and-file soldiers were mostly conscripts serving a 13-month tour with most experienced officers and ncos electing to serve in vietnam rather than the backwater of korea the south korean army though well-led and motivated was completely equipped with u.s cast off weapons and vehicles from world war ii its standard rifle being the m1 garand both sides conducted raids across the border for example 5 300 south korean troops were killed or taken prisoner on operations inside north korea between 1953 and 1972. the u.s and south korean forces received air support from u.s air force and south korean air force units and the seas around korea were dominated by the u.s seventh fleet from 1967 onwards the un command had beefed up the defenses along the dmz the 1953 armistice forbade extensive fortifications but fences and heavily armed observation posts were allowed a killing zone was cleared in which land mines were sown and artillery and mortars pre-registered the un was geared up for trying to stop a full-scale north korean invasion like that of 1950 but the new defenses which included electronics and sensors used in vietnam would hopefully slow down cross-border infiltrators with a special quick reaction force of mechanized infantry tanks and armored cavalry ready to hunt down any incursions to improve alertness among troops standing guard and patrolling battalions were rotated every four months tit for tat raiding continued throughout 1966 and 1967. there were several serious border incidents in 1967 including u.s troops too many to discuss here but by way of example on the 10th of august a 7th infantry division construction team from the 31st infantry regiment was ambushed south of the dmz in the fire fight that followed three u.s soldiers were killed and 16 wounded with one later dying of his wounds in total 1967 saw the deaths of 16 u.s troops in combat in korea in january 1968 the communists launched a full-scale effort to assassinate the south korean president at his palace the blue house in seoul on the night of the 17th of january a 31-man north korean commando unit part of unit 24 infiltrated through the u.s second infantry division's lines however local woodcutters were briefly detained by the unit and on their release they informed the police unit 24 infiltrated into seoul in two to three man cells on the 20th of january disguising themselves as south korean soldiers they were eventually stopped only 800 meters from the blue house and identified a gunfight erupted a huge manhunt enacted to find the north korean commandos who largely fought to the death only one made it back to north korea the rest being killed or captured 26 south korean troops died along with four u.s servicemen but worse was to come for the u.s on the 23rd of january the uss pueblo a u.s navy surveillance ship was attacked by north korean navy torpedo boats and gunboats covered by two mig-21 jets it remains disputed to this day whether the pueblo was in international or north korean waters at the time of the attack one u.s sailor died and 82 plus the ship were captured the pueblo is currently on display as a museum vessel in north korea and remains a commissioned warship in the u.s navy the diplomatic fallout for president lyndon johnson was enormous as he struggled to deal with crises in vietnam the president decided on the show of force and ordered a massive reinforcement of u.s forces in korea including over 200 combat aircraft and six aircraft carriers he even partially mobilized reservists back in the states evidently expecting war with north korea but johnson hoped to avoid a conflict with u.s forces so overstretched in vietnam and europe and negotiated the return of the pueblos crew indeed the infamous tet offensive had opened in vietnam on the 30th of january 1968. however south korean president park wanted to invade the north and remove the threat to his nation once and for all but by promising to modernize the south korean armed forces 100 million dollars in military aid being offered by washington initially park agreed not to cross the 38th parallel the influx of u.s military resources into south korea actually put the north koreans off further large-scale incursion attempts and the dangers being faced by u.s servicemen in protecting the border including many small-scale contacts with north korean troops with casualties sustained on both sides caused the men to become entitled to hostile fire pay and the award of the combat infantryman badge and combat medical badge to qualified men serving north of the imjin river throughout the rest of 1968 north korean infiltrators attack u.s patrols and vehicles along the dmz these small-scale firefights cost the u.s 22 men killed in action this truck was not blown up in vietnam it was ambushed on april 1968 by north korean communists in a flagrant daylight raid across the korean dmz the three soldiers of the second u.s infantry division and one katusa soldier who were murdered in this truce violation were on their way to lunch the north now switched to trying to infiltrate south korea from the sea rather than through the demilitarized zone the night of the 30th of october 1968 another unit of north korean commandos 120 men strong landed at eight different locations along the coast with orders to set up guerrilla bases in the tabak mountains alerted by local citizens south korean forces hunted them for two weeks losing 40 killed plus 23 civilians killed or murdered by north korean commandos 110 north koreans were killed and seven were captured on the 15th of april 1969 the u.s suffered significant losses when an american air force ec121m warning star electronics intelligence aircraft was intercepted and shot down by two north korean migs 167 kilometers off the coast all 31 crew members were killed president richard nixon considered a retaliatory airstrike against the mig's base but his advisors persuaded him that it might cause a full-scale war something america could ill afford as the vietnam war rumbled on during 1969 many more small-scale infiltrations were dealt with involving regular shootouts as the men of the 76th engineer battalion began to line up for their supper their mess tent was suddenly hit by heavy machine gun fire from communist raiders two u.s soldiers one katusa killed 26 other people wounded including two korean laundry women [Music] this is where a barracks building stood located at camp wally it was demolished by a planted time bomb two soldiers were killed in their sleep these are only a few variations on the communist theme in total 1969 witnessed the deaths of five u.s soldiers in combat in korea on the 17th of august a u.s oh-23 raven helicopter strayed across the border and was shot down its three crew members were prisoners of war until december kim il-sung's infiltration campaign appeared to have failed by december 1969. he purged the generals responsible for the failed campaign and concentrated on building up his conventional defenses new infiltration tactics were also formulated including tunnels dug under the dmz the second korean war cost the u.s 75 soldiers and airmen killed in action and a couple of hundred wounded while south korea lost 299 soldiers killed and 550 wounded american soldiers would continue to be killed and wounded in the course of patrolling the border and even in 2020 u.s forces still do this job alongside the south koreans the border the last cold war style frontier left since the fall of communism in europe it remains a very dangerous place where gunfire is regularly traded across no man's land and where u.s soldiers will continue to serve for the foreseeable future thanks for watching please subscribe and share you can also visit my new audiobook channel war stories with mark felton and help to support both of my channels at paypal and patreon which is always very much appreciated

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 1,721,929

Keywords: Mark Felton Productions, Korean War, DMZ, Seoul, North Korea

Id: 3hpFsKqaIuc

Length: 17min 31sec (1051 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 13 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Some pretty interesting US Army engagements that few remember. Weird time to be fighting with Vietnam overshadowing everything else.

Also Mark Felton is just incredible. The dude deserves more attention.

[u/[deleted]]

I've actually never heard of this - thanks for sharing

[u/Flipforfirstup]

Ah my uncle ended up fighting in Korea in the 60s. We always though it was odd he got sent to Korea and not Vietnam. Great documentary

[u/BuachaillRua]

Mark Felton's channel on Youtube is amazing. You'll find some fascinating, intriguing short documentaries on stories, mostly from WW2, that are generally not known or talked about.

[u/meecro]

Speaking of forgotten conflicts...i once saw a documentary on youtube where soldiers (more like ex-soldiers from several countries, now mercenaries?)where fighting in africa? There were british, german, and it was in the 50's maybe? One of them was rather (in)famous, a british one.

I know this is a very scarce description, but maybe some of you know what i'm talking about. And how come they can just go somewhere and play war? One of them just shot a civilian there, i mean...what were they doing there?

I hope somebody here knows what i'm talking about. They also attacked a house which was occupied by rebels?, and the people were very lucky that they freed them, one person even said that in a yt comment iirc.

[u/Taj_Mahole]

In Jr High, I played my grandfather's trombone.

A week after my grandparents were married, my grandfather was drafted by the Army to fight in the Korean War. The story goes that during basic, some officer came up to his squad or whatever and asked if anyone played an instrument. My grandfather raised his hand and said that he played trombone in High School. And just like that, he was plucked from his regiment and put into the marching band. He spent his time in the Army playing music for soldiers as they marched off to war. Lucky guy; that trombone could very well be the reason he survived the war. Which would mean that I played the same trombone to which I owe my very existence.

[u/saladdresser]

Would be helpful to know the Soviet Union's involvement in this conflict. US forces may have patrolled the DMZ, but North Korea was no doubt still being trained and equipped by the Soviets.

With the Sino-Soviet split ending in 1966, it'd also be interesting to know China's position, as their resumption of relations with the Soviet Union may have impacted Kim Il-Sung's decisions.

[u/Zaratustash]

Huge mistake at 3:41

The South Korean state never "remained democratic" because it was not a western style multiparty liberal democracy until the late 80s. It was an autocratic and rather violent dictatorship until then, it literally was led by a General starting 1960.

[u/ELTURO3344]

Isn’t considered an international incident or something like that?