The Korean War: Who Won? Who Lost? Why Does It Matter?
September 20, 2016 – After a summer break in Asia Society Korea Center’s Monthly Luncheon Series, the program returned on Tuesday with Seoul-based Englishman Andrew Salmon talking about “The Korean War: Who Won? Who Lost? Why Does It Matter?” Mr. Salmon is a journalist, broadcaster and author who has been a resident of Seoul since 1998. He is France24’s English correspondent and covers the Koreas for Forbes, The Nikkei Asian Review and The South China Morning Post and writes his biweekly “Lack of Morning Calm” column for The Korea Times. In 2016, Andrew was made an MBE (Member of the British Empire) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to British veterans of the Korean War. An expert in military history on the Peninsular, Mr. Salmon has published books on the Korean War, including To the Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea, 1951 and Scorched Earth, Black Snow: Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950.
Mr. Salmon kicked off his lecture by giving a brief history of the Korean War using a series of iconic images taken throughout the fighting. These images ranged from a painting of the North Korean People's Army (NKPA) rolling into Seoul on June 28, 1950 to U.S marines engaging with live enemy in Seoul, an image that Salmon calls “one of the greatest combat photos of all time”. The talk gave insights into “The Forgotten War” using actual accounts of life on the front line during infamous battles across the Peninsular. On one such description of the war, Mr. Salmon explained how a winter retreat from the North and Chinese forces by U.N troops left all bridges, railways and infrastructure in tatters with only scorched earth and black snow remaining, the title of his 2011 book.
For Salmon, the winners in the war were Japan and China. Japan was able to develop economically by staying out of the fighting yet remaining on the periphery, while China was able to emerge as a military superpower following its successes in North Korea. The losers were the United States who had failed to win a war outright for the first time in its history and North Korea which was devastated and remains dived to this day. For South Korea, the security it received through the mutual defense treaty signed with the U.S and the following economic and political miracles meant that it too was a winner in the long run. Mr. Salmon finished by highlighting of the successes of South Korea, Japan and Germany following war and how the lessons of not abandoning countries after battle should be remembered and applied today.