Do you think the United States-led forces ought to have crossed into North Korea?

Answer 1

The mandate of the United Nations forces was to combat the aggression of North Korea. The question, then, is whether this meant doing anything beyond expelling North Korean troops from the territory of South Korea. The United Nations forces under the command of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur achieved the goal of driving the North Koreans out of South Korea. Gen. MacArthur then chose to lead U.N. forces across the 38th parallel into the territory of North Korea, which led to the intervention of the People's Republic of China on the side of North Korea (this, in turn, resulted in a second invasion of South Korean territory by the combined forces of Communist China and North Korea).

Had the North Korean government been willing to enter into negotiations for a peace treaty in which they pledged not to threaten the independence of South Korea once their Army had been defeated and forced to retreat out of South Korea, Gen. MacArthur would not have been justified in launching an invasion of North Korea. In the absence of such a diplomatic move towards ending the war, Gen. MacArthur could argue that, even though all of South Korea had been liberated, North Korea remained a threat and that the independence of South Korea could not be ensured without either forcing the North Korean government to negotiate by invading North Korea or simply ending the Communist government of North Korea by occupying all of North Korea.

Such an argument in favor of invading North Korea could be countered by pointing out that an invasion of the territory of North Korean was an act of aggression no different than the act of aggression committed by the government of North Korea against South Korea. Moreover, Gen. MacArthur did not have any specific instructions to invade North Korea.

In any case, history has demonstrated that Gen. MacArthur's decision to lead U.N. forces in an invasion of North Korea, rather than bringing about an end to the war that secured South Korea's independence, actually extended the length of the war and endangered the security of South Korea. Traditionally, China has viewed the neighboring country of Korea as a subordinate satellite within China's sphere of influence, a neighboring country that was vital to China's security. As such, there was a very high likelihood, virtually a guarantee, that China would respond to an invasion of North Korea by sending a large army into North Korea to join with the remnants of the North Korean Army and drive the U.N. forces out of North Korea. While Gen. MacArthur refused to acknowledge this danger, there were many other world leaders who warned that Gen. MacArthur's actions would lead to China entering the war.

Had Gen. MacArthur gone no further than the border separating North and South Korea, the 38th parallel, there is no reason to believe that the People's Republic of China would have entered the war. Technically, the war may not have ended (to this day a peace treaty has not been signed between North and South Korea ending the war). But the presence of U.N. forces on the 38th parallel would have prevented North Korea from launching a second invasion of South Korea, so that South Korea's independence would have been ensured, thus fulfilling the original U.N. mandate.