Justin+Guzman

Justin Guzman

901 College Bound

Jeff & PG

6-3-13

__The Korean War__

The Korean War was a historical event that took place in 1950 to 1953. The Korean War was a great war that affected many people. I say this because the Korean War has affected the US by causing a change on domestic and international policy. Also during the war North Korea captured the USS Pueblo which put the lives of Americans in danger. Lastly, the Korean impacted the US economically. This war all started because of North Korea. North Korea started this due to their plan on Communist Expansion. Kim Ill Sung convinced his colleagues that it was necessary to invade South Korea. This causing the South to form a threat to the North in 1950.

The Korean War affected US by causing a change on domestic and international policy. This was because it had a 400% increase in military spending. The Korean War is what made Americans realize that a communist power was able to fight the US. This caused the US to put more findings into the army to protect their country and decided that it was time for a “new look”. In the article “[|Foreign Affairs]”, it asserts that “The main elements of the new look were maintaining the vitality of the U.S economy while still building sufficient strength to prosecute the cold war and relying on nuclear weapons to deter Communist aggression or, if necessary, to fight a war...”. This made America more aware of what they were going up against around the world.



Another way the Korean War affected the US was by the capturing of the USS Pueblo. The USS Pueblo was a ship that was sent to spy on the North Koreans. The ship was discovered spying and captured which caused the lives of Americans held hostage on January. This was a very big thing to Americans because this caused the lives of American’s to be in danger. Eventually 10 months passed and the crew of the USS Pueblo was still held hostage. During those 10 months the Johnson Administration had tried everything to set them free. In the article “[|The USS Pueblo Incident]”, it asserts that “Kim Ill Sung demanded what the State Department referred to as the 3 As: Apology, Assurance, and Admission. The US had to sign a letter admitting to violating North Korea waters, assure it would never happen again, and apologize for doing so.” America did what they told them and eventually the crew of the USS Pueblo was free.



The last reason that the Korean War affected the US was by affecting the economy. Even though this was not the most money that they had spent on a war it still changed the structure in of the American growth as a result of financing. This war increased GPD growth through the governments spending which invested towards this war. Also taxes were majorly increased during the time to help fund the war which was something that was much different that they had done before to help fund a war. In the article “[|Impact of the Korean War on the economy of the United States]”, it asserts that “While the United States Usually Finances wars using a combination of direct contemporaneous taxes, debt, and money creation, with taxation comprising a relatively small fraction of expenses, the Korean War was financed mostly via taxation. This focus on taxation was significant change in economic policy, as President Truman focused on maintaining a balanced budget.”. Even when the war ended they learned that they should invest money still towards the military but in a way that will keep everything economized.



In conclusion, The Korean War affected the US in many ways. I say this because the Korean War caused the US to change their domestic international policy. Also this caused many american lives to be lost and endangered such as in the USS Pueblo. Lastly this war had a big affect on the economy and changed the way we looked at how we invested for military actions. This is very important because without the Korean War the US would not have done anything fix the way they saw things economically and threats worldwide. The Korean War did have a negative and positive affect on the US but showed us many things.