How far was the USA's military involvement in the conflict in Korea the consequence of a desire to defend democracy?

One of the major factor for American intervention had to be containment. The USA believed that all communism around the world was controlled by Moscow. Therefore under this assumption it was Moscow who was invading the south and merely using the North Koreans like puppets. So they saw this as an aggressive move by Moscow. They had stood firm against them in Europe over Berlin and Greece; they therefore had to be firm in Asia. They believed that they could not allow the communists to have there own way as the 1930’s had shown that this did not work. If they did not stop them then other Asian countries may fall communist and may even spread to Australia or Japan. South Korea was also a buffer for the Americans. They needed more than Japan as a buffer.  Japan was key to the Region and if there were few or no allies surrounding Japan, there was the possibility of losing it. As Edwards explains “Japan held the Key to the balance of power in the region.” Also after the loss of China communism appeared to be spreading through Asia. President Truman had been blamed for losing China, and it would have been politically unwise to not intervene in South Korea and allow it too to become communist.

Another factor of containment is the Truman Doctrine. Due to what President Truman had stated in this the Americans were morally obligated t o get involved. As the Truman Doctrine said “…it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” The invasion of South Korea by the North clearly meant that under the Truman Doctrine the USA had to get involved.

Another reason the Americans got involved in the Korean war was due to the fact that Syngman Rhee asked for it. He asked the Americans for help to repel the North Korean invasion. As Hastings explains “At noon on 26 June, the Korean mission in Washington received yet another call from Syngman Rhee this time audibly shaken. ‘Things are not going well militarily.’ he said.” The missionm in Washington saw President Truman who agreed to help. The USA tabled a resolution to the Security Council condemning the actions of the North and sending aid to the South. He had invited the US and UN forces into South Korea to repel the North Korean invasion.

One factor was American pride and prestige on the world stage. If the Americans turned there backs on the South Koreans it would have severely damaged the political standing on the world stage. The European allies would have been extremely anxious. Due to the possibility that if they won’t go to the South Koreans aid, they may not come to ours. It would have also shown the Soviets that the Americans were weak willed and could be pushed around.

In conclusion it was not really out of a desire to defend democracy that the USA got involved in the Korean conflict. The main reason for them getting involved was containment. Under the Truman Doctrine they had to help the South Koreans. They believed that this was another attempt by Moscow to spread communism. Also the USSR had developed atomic weaponry the previous year, and the Americans had to show that even though they no longer had a Atomic monopoly, they would stand up to communist aggression around the World. One other contributing factor was syngman Rhee’s pleas to the US to get involved. Overall it was containment that got the USA involved and a fear of the global spread of communism.