From 1945 to 1949 Europe had been the main focus point of the Cold War. After ’49 attention turned to Asia. The Communist takeover of China led to US concerns that communism was spreading. These fears were to be realized in 1950 when North Korea (communist) invaded the South. The Korean War posed a real danger to international relations. Although it was essentially a civil war, it was a conflict the USA, the Soviet Union and China would find difficult not to get involved in.
Korea became an issue of ideological conflict with context of the superpower rivalry of the Cold War. There has been much speculation over who gave the order to invade the South but it was effectively Kim Il Sung who threw the first punch, in discussing his plans with Stalin, who gave no commitment to help the North if an invasion was launched. Kim appeared to be the man who gave the order as he had probably the biggest motive, to unite the country.
As a result of the Korean War was a huge death toll, mainly consisting of North Koreans. However, North Korea had prevented the West from destroying communism in its half of the country; the West had saved South Korea from communism. However neither side was happy with the result. The prospects of uniting the country had flown out of the window by now. One winner of the conflict for Korea was Syngman Rhee, whose regime gained the protection of the USA. For China the Korean War resulted in many Chinese lives lost and it was devastating for its resources. However it had shown its military potential.
The Korean War had a considerable impact of the direction of US foreign policy. It led to the re-arming of the USA along with huge military spending. However the USA would now be prepared for further examples of communist aggression. The US government decided to develop and use a wide range of strategies to help governments facing the threat of communism. This would include sending military advisers to even full-scale nuclear weapons. After Korea the USA now had the opportunity to try out some of these methods, especially when the situation came along in Vietnam.
The UN had demonstrated the ability to exert its authority against acts of aggression but it had been, as Soviet Propaganda had pointed out, a tool of US policy. Respect for the UN among the developing nations of the Third World declined after the war.
