Korean War and current U.S. relations with North Korea

Drew Ferrara

North Korea and America

5/14/15

            In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and America. And God said, “Let there be SEC football”. The majority of humans, like myself, believe that America is the greatest country of all time and invincible to any other inferior nation. Not only is America tough and intimidating, but it is also kind and guarantees each citizen personal freedoms. However, there is one group of people who, no matter how awesome America gets, still despise us and that is the cruddy North Koreans. Since the 1950s North Korea and the United States have steadily resented one another. America is the enemy in the eyes of almost every Korean citizen. Even though we have amazing things like football, Chick Fil A, and trucks, the North Koreans still do not thing we are cool enough to be their friends. The North Koreans have been at odds with the United States since the Korean War, in the fifties, and have continued to hate us up to this day due to multiple generations of North Koreans who were brainwashed when they were a kid.

            During the 1940s, before America was involved, Korea had a civil war. North and South Korea were formed, having a communistic dictatorship in the North and a democratic form of government in the South. The Korean peninsula was divided, into the two separate nations, along the 38^th parallel. In the North, Kim Il Sung established a communist government called the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is ironic because it was never democratic or for/belonging to the people. In the South, roll tide, a man by the name of Syngman Rhee was elected as leader of the new Republic of Korea (ROK). North Korea was supported by the Soviet Union who was attempting to spread communism to the entire peninsula of Korea. However, South Korea stood its ground with the assistance of America and the United Nations. America became initially involved in the Korean conflict due to the Soviets attempt to spread communism. America came to the rescue because we centered our foreign policy on containing communism and eliminating its spread to places such as South Korea.

The Soviets and the United States agreed on the 38^th parallel as the boundary of the two nations. Every now and then, both North and South Korea would cross the boundary and small fights would break out but nothing big enough to trigger a full on war. Then on June 25, 1950, the DPRK forces of North Korea crossed the 38^th parallel and invaded South Korea in order to try and unify or control the entire peninsula. North Korea quickly pushed its way into the South and took control of the majority of the peninsula. The ROK army of South Korea was cornered into the area surrounding Pusan. Due to these actions, the United States insisted on a meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The Soviets had no representation in the United Nations (UN), because they were boycotting it, allowing the UN to pass a resolution characterizing the Soviet Union’s actions as a “breach of peace”. To America, the invasion justified the idea that communists are constantly trying to spread communism in any way possible. In response to North Korea’s attack, the UN formed an army which was comprised of soldiers from fifteen different countries. The army was composed of soldiers from multiple nations in order to prohibit communism from expanding outside Korea.

General Douglas A. MacArthur and the UN army were able to defeat the DPRK forces and recover captured South Korean territories such as Seoul. The UN forces quickly pushed the North Koreans back to the 38^th parallel with ease. Then, however, the United States and UN officials thought, since it was easy to push North Korea back to the 38^th parallel, why not continue pushing them back until they are forced out of Korea? America and the UN leaders were not concerned about the Soviet Union or China because the U.S. did not expect them to resist the UN troop’s advances. The United States and UN forces were approved to continue pushing the North Koreans back. In a short amount of time, UN troops forced DPRK forces back as far as the Yalu River, which is the border between North Korea and China. The Chinese officials felt threatened by the UN troops advancing so close to their border so they ordered Chinese troops to enter North Korea and halt the UN forces. The United States and UN were not prepared for the magnitude and determination of the Chinese troops, which rapidly pushed U.S. and UN forces back behind the 38^th parallel. These actions of advancing then retreating were repeated among both sides, which eventually led to a stalemate. Officials from all the groups began to examine possibilities for peace. They agreed to keep the 38^th parallel as the border between North and South Korea.

After the war was over, which it never really was because we are right back where we started, Americans did not celebrate like at the end of other wars, such as WWII, which greatly impacted everyone in America. Since the Korean War occurred right after WWII and had less of an effect on American citizens, it was often not thought about or forgotten. Americans were still celebrating success in WWII and savoring the peace at mind they had because they no longer had to participate in the hectic industrialization brought forth by WWII. This is why Americans often did not care about the Korean War, allowing it to receive its nickname the “forgotten war” due to the lack of interest felt by Americans who were exhausted by WWII.

As time went on, the United States did not improve relations with North Korea. Instead, North Korea held a grudge on America and continued to view them as the enemy. Not only did the government and war veterans continue to view the U.S. as the enemy, but also kids were being taught that America was evil at a very young age. In schools and all throughout society the word “bastard” is often used when describing Americans. During recess at schools, kids entertain themselves by pretending to shoot and kill dummies made to look like American soldiers. This is a game to the kids, who do not see it as unmoral because they were taught that hating Americans is normal. Kids, for many generations, have been brainwashed into believing that the United States is a horrid place. This idea of brainwashing young kids can be seen when Mackenzie Liss, from Pen State University, states “Children are taught dance, history, and sing patriotic songs. But the secret message being taught at such a young age is that the United States is constantly trying to bomb and threaten North Korea”. This shows that the teachers and government of North Korea is providing false information about America to young children in order to persuade them into believing that the U.S. is evil. Even though, after the war, we stopped attacking North Korea and have not done anything against them, they continue to brainwash their offspring and convince them to feel the same hatred they felt against America in the fifties. Therefore, since the majority of North Koreans are being brainwashed into despising America then their future generations will also be brainwashed because each generation will pass their hatred for America down to their offspring. This means that, if nothing is done, North Koreans will forever believe that the United States is the sworn enemy.

            When I was researching and learning about current difficulties between America and North Korea I was surprised to learn so much about how North Korea brainwashed and force-fed kids deceiving information persuading them to hate America. I knew that North Korea was very manipulative and lied to its citizens but I did not know that they started at such a young age. When I learned this, I caused me to change my focus. At first I was going to talk about how, currently, North Korea threatened America for the movie The Interview, which depicted misleading information and the assassination of Kim Jong Un who is the supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. After I learned about the mind-controlling teachers and schools, I decided not to talk about North Korea’s reaction about the movie because there was no real evidence showing that North Korea even hacked Sony, and I decided to focus on the true reasoning for why North Korea hates the U.S. and that is because of brainwashing. While researching I found the Office of the Historian to be extremely useful and is where I attained the majority of my information about the Korean War. And overall, I was drawn to this topic simply because I was not thee during class and I was assigned this topic, but it was very interesting and I learned a lot of new information.

United States General Douglas A. MacArthur during the Korean War.

North Korean kid pretending to kill and American soldier during recess at school.

Syngman Rhee, first leader of the Republic of Korea (ROK)

Kim Il-Sung, supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

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This is a map of the Korean Peninsula to make it easier to understand where the war occurred and shows the 38th parallel. This site has a good animation showing how the war occurred.

Sources:

1. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: Teaching With Documents: The United States Enters the Korean Conflict.

·         This is an extremely credible source because it contains information from President Harry S. Truman who was President during the War. It has some of Truman’s writings attached to the page. I used this source to learn more about how America got involved in the Korean War. Since some information was from Truman himself, it allows this source to be a primary source.

2. Quora: Why is the Korean War called the “forgotten war”? : Carter Moore.

·         I used this site to obtain general information on why the Korean War was called the “forgotten war” and did not use this source much in my paper.

3. U.S. Department of State: Office of the Historian: Bureau of Public Affairs.

·         This was, by far, my most useful and credible source. I used this source to form the majority of my paper. This site is run by the State Department in the Government; therefore it has extremely accurate information and is not some post on Wikipedia.

4. Penn State University: North Korean Children Taught Anti-American Beliefs at a Young Age.

·         This site was very useful and is the source of the majority of my information about the brainwashing of North Korean kids. Also, this site is from a university, therefore it is very credible.

5. U.S. Department of State: Diplomacy in Action: U.S. Relations with North Korea

·         This site is very credible because it is also from the U.S. Department of State but it is recent information about relations with North Korea and is on a different website than my other Department of State source.

6. The Verge: Everything you need to know about the Sony hacks.

·         I did not use this source in my paper because I did not end up talking about the Sony hacks due to the length of my paper and the lack of for sure evidence that it was North Korea. This site talks about how Sony was hacked and threatened for the making of the movie The Interview.

Cinderella Man Essay

Drew Ferrara

Cinderella Man Essay

5/1/2014

                The 1930s was a time filled with great poverty and struggle. A large sum of people in the United States lost a huge portion, if not all, of their money and assets during this time, allowing it to become known as the Great Depression. The number of citizens who were without a job and money to buy the basic necessities was unimaginable. The majority of the families characterized as the working-class had to apply for government relief in order to not starve to death. One can obtain a sense of understanding of the struggles experienced in the Great Depression by watching Cinderella Man, where James J. Braddock shows extreme perseverance in order to support his family.

                In the beginning, it shows Braddock’s life before the depression, which seems luxurious and worry-free. Then as the time passes, Braddock’s life transforms from being satisfying into a life filled with constant worrying and adversity. This aspect of the movie shows the extreme change felt by families who were doing well before the depression and barely getting by only a few years later. This shows how the depression hit America at such a quick rate. As the story continues, Braddock is seen standing behind the locked gates of the docks, where he is trying to get a job. This exemplifies the 15 million Americans who were unemployed in the early 1930s, who often had to get up early every morning to try and obtain a one-day job, such as Braddock did at the docks. Large groups of men would often crowd the gates, waiting to be chosen, however, only five or six would ever be chosen. Therefore, the movie accurately portrays the struggles people encountered when trying to get a job. The dozens or even a hundred men who were not chosen causes the viewer to question how they survive with no money. As shown in the movie, such as when Braddock cannot get a job, many people had to apply to get government relief, a program which was set up by Franklin Roosevelt to help people survive the difficult times of the Great Depression.

                Another major struggle for people alive during the Great Depression was that they often had to send off their kids to relatives because they could not afford to take care of them. This is accurately seen in the movie when Braddock comes home to find that his children’s beds are empty because his wife sent them away. As seen in the movie, this was extremely difficult for parents because, first, they were without their kids and, second, it showed that they had failed their family and not been able to support and take care of them. This often made people very depressed to the extent that they often gave up on trying. This can be seen in the movie in the character known as Mike, not because he lost his kids but due to the stress of the depression in general. Due to the depression, Mike begins to drink and gamble to such an extent that he almost hits his wife in front of a bunch of kids and parents. This shows that Mike, like a lot of people, was trying to get over the depression by drinking away his sorrows and not pushing to get a job or make money any way he could.

                In general, the average person can see the common difficulties felt by families in the 1930s by watching Cinderella Man. For instance, when the Braddock’s family is low on milk, the mother fills the remainder of the jar up with water to try and make the milk last longer. This shows that things we take for granted today, such as a small gallon of milk, were a uncommon luxury in the 1930s which a large amount of families could not afford. Also, like Braddock’s family in the movie, a lot of families were not able to pay the electric bill and thus had to have a fire in their house in order to stay warm and cook the little food they had. Because most families had little to no food, they would often steal food from their neighbors or stores, which Braddock scolds his son for doing because he does not want his son to cheat his way through life. Due to the striking similarities of the lifestyle seen in the movie and the lives of the actual people who suffered during the 1930s, I believe that Cinderella Man is an excellent movie to watch if you seek to learn about the Great Depression.

Sources:

U.S. History in Film: Cinderella Man as a secondary source. This site stated the accuracies and inaccuracies.

Frank Lotierzo: the biggest thing Cinderella Man got wrong: BoxingScene.com. This site states an important fact about Max Baer and how he was not mean like he was portrayed in the movie.

David Fellerath: How Cinderella Man sucker punches the Jewish boxer Max Baer: Slate.com. This site also provides evidence supporting Max Baer and the fact that he is not a monster like in the movie.