Effect of NK victory in Korean War

Had the North Koreans managed to overrun the American defensive line in 1950 and captured Taegu, letting them drive to Pusan, and Truman had chosen to call it quits rather than try to fight on somehow, how might this have affected the Cold War, not to mention American politics? After all, it would have began with a total humiliation for America, and we'd have Kim il-sung running the entire peninsula so would North Korea play a larger role in the Cold War as a result? And would it still be around today?
 
Could the North Koreans, if provided with sufficient Soviet and perhaps Chinese aid, have won the war swiftly before the United Nations got involved, so as to make the war a fait accompli? If they do that and if the Soviets veto UN intervention rather than their ill-judged boycott, so any intervention will have to be devoid of UN authority, that sounds like it might work.
 
Nukes. Such loss wouldn't be accepted.

Yes. The failure of there being no South Korea would be seemed as a threat to Japan. The Japanese industries and economy was seem as a way to protect the American sphere of influence in East Asia. Without South Korea, America's ally japan would be even more isolated and in endangered.
 
It will lead to more deployments of American troops into Japan or Taiwan, and maybe remilitarisation after an LDP-esque, pro-American party has been secured. I believe Americans always thought of South Korea as a lost cause, mainly due to it being the hotbed of Communism since 1945(contrary to Pyongyang, which saw a largely Protestant demographic). I doubt they'll try to recapture Korea. This will possibly also lead to inactiveness in the French Indochina conflict.
Kim will probably lose power due to other factions now gaining strength(since, as said, the South was the left-leaning region).
 
Using nukes was actually considered in OTL, why wouldn't it be considered now that the situation is worse?

Nuclear weapons were considered when the Chinese blitz through the UN lines by Macarthur and only Macarthur/extremists. Truman would later sack him due to these outbursts of lunacy.
 
Nuclear weapons were considered when the Chinese blitz through the UN lines by Macarthur and only Macarthur/extremists. Truman would later sack him due to these outbursts of lunacy.

They weren't lunacy at the time, and Truman's sacking of MacArthur was not all that popular. If SK falls, nukes are legitimate and more than 50% probable. It's the 1950s, MAD doesn't exist yet and the Soviets don't have much in the way of delivery for retaliation, especially if it's Chinese cities or much more likely- tactical battlefield nukes. The future DMZ or NK/Chinese border becomes a much more secure literal no-man's-land by being radioactive like Chernobyl.
 
They weren't lunacy at the time, and Truman's sacking of MacArthur was not all that popular. If SK falls, nukes are legitimate and more than 50% probable. It's the 1950s, MAD doesn't exist yet and the Soviets don't have much in the way of delivery for retaliation, especially if it's Chinese cities or much more likely- tactical battlefield nukes. The future DMZ or NK/Chinese border becomes a much more secure literal no-man's-land by being radioactive like Chernobyl.

By the time nukes were considered, the Americans were fully committed. If the KPA reaches Pusan quickly as this OP implies, America never has the time to consider whether or not they should fully commit.
 
The only real chance of northern victory is if the North beats the south before America can intervene. In which case it will be a probably minor satellite state of Russia for awhile, but eventually gains some measure of indendence by playing off the Chinese and the Russians as a sponsor, thus giving it a level of independence unusual for a Stalinist satellite. In other ways they will probably mostly resemble their peers in neighboring countries. Without a lot of the craziness brought on by the complete devastation of the OTL war and likely with a far more normal communist political system, where the party runs the state quietly. Whether or not it falls with its friends is another question. But I suspect it would go the route of Vietnam and China and simply liberalize its economy while retaining the dictatorship.
 
Nuclear weapons were considered when the Chinese blitz through the UN lines by Macarthur and only Macarthur/extremists. Truman would later sack him due to these outbursts of lunacy.

Which is really ironic since he was the only President who ever used them.:rolleyes:
 
The only real chance of northern victory is if the North beats the south before America can intervene. In which case it will be a probably minor satellite state of Russia for awhile, but eventually gains some measure of indendence by playing off the Chinese and the Russians as a sponsor, thus giving it a level of independence unusual for a Stalinist satellite. In other ways they will probably mostly resemble their peers in neighboring countries. Without a lot of the craziness brought on by the complete devastation of the OTL war and likely with a far more normal communist political system, where the party runs the state quietly. Whether or not it falls with its friends is another question. But I suspect it would go the route of Vietnam and China and simply liberalize its economy while retaining the dictatorship.

I agree, though I would believe it would likely still be dominated by the Kim Dynasty with power being transfered to Kim Jon-il following the death of Kim Il-Sun. Unless an internal power struggle forces them out. A nation ruled by a cult of personality is however unlikely to liberalize peacefully.

Which is really ironic since he was the only President who ever used them.:rolleyes:

Thus showing how insane the Macarthur nuclear suicide plan really was.
 
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