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- North Korea Invades the South (1950)
- The U.N. Intervenes (1950)
- Landing at Inchon/Defense of Pusan (1950)
- China Enters War (1950)
- Operation Piledriver (1951)
- The Relief of MacArthur (1951)
- Racial Intergration Inside Forces (1951-1954)
- U.S. Air Force Attacks North Korea (1952)
- Eisenhower Enters Office (1953)
- The Battle of Pork Chop Hill (1953)
- North Korea Invades the South (1950)
- The War is Over!>
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- After the War...
The Prisoner of War Exchange
Photo North Korean Soldier in The United Nations' prisoner-of-war camp in Pusan
The Prisoner of War Exchange played an important part of the Armistice talks. The United Nations said that the prisoners should not have to return to communist country if they did not want to. After Joseph Stalin died in 1953, both sides agreed to exchange injured and ill prisoners. This exchange was called Operation Little Switch, which took place in the spring of 1953. Nevertheless, the Chinese attacked the United Nations forces at Pork Chop Hill. The Chinese initiated the first Pork Chop Battle in April of 1953 to show that they were still capable of warfare even though they were negotiating to exchange ill and injured prisoners of war during Operation Little Switch.
6,670 Chinese and North Korean prisoners were returned to their home countries and 6,069 United Nations prisoners were also returned. The main prisoner exchange, Operation Big Switch, took place after the Armistice of July 1953. This exchange involved 75, 823 prisoners back to the Communist countries and 12,773 back to the United Nations. 3,598 of the prisoners that were returned back to the United Nations were Americans. By February of 1954, all former prisoners that did not want to return to a communist country were released as civilians.
The prisoners of war exchange was significant to the United States because it was a major negotiation point between the United Nations and the Communist North Koreans for peace talks at the end of the Korean War. The return of political prisoners became a major discussion point in peace talks because new communist nations such as North Korea and China, didn’t want their citizens returned anywhere but home. Meanwhile, US president Harry Truman had seen Soviet citizens returned after WWII imprisoned and mistreated. Due to this, Truman did not want to compromise on the issue of returning prisoners to communist countries that didn’t want to be returned. To allow communist prisoners of war to be returned to non-communist countries, the United Nations reclassified more than 40,000 South Korean prisoners as “civilian internees” instead of prisoners of war and began to screen all of its prisoners to review who wanted to be returned to their home country, and who did not. The issue of what to do with prisoners of war deadlocked peace talks from 1952 until 1953 when communists decided they were willing to allow prisoners of war to decide where they wanted to return.
Source:http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/ig/Korean-War-Photos/Injured-US-POW.htm
6,670 Chinese and North Korean prisoners were returned to their home countries and 6,069 United Nations prisoners were also returned. The main prisoner exchange, Operation Big Switch, took place after the Armistice of July 1953. This exchange involved 75, 823 prisoners back to the Communist countries and 12,773 back to the United Nations. 3,598 of the prisoners that were returned back to the United Nations were Americans. By February of 1954, all former prisoners that did not want to return to a communist country were released as civilians.
The prisoners of war exchange was significant to the United States because it was a major negotiation point between the United Nations and the Communist North Koreans for peace talks at the end of the Korean War. The return of political prisoners became a major discussion point in peace talks because new communist nations such as North Korea and China, didn’t want their citizens returned anywhere but home. Meanwhile, US president Harry Truman had seen Soviet citizens returned after WWII imprisoned and mistreated. Due to this, Truman did not want to compromise on the issue of returning prisoners to communist countries that didn’t want to be returned. To allow communist prisoners of war to be returned to non-communist countries, the United Nations reclassified more than 40,000 South Korean prisoners as “civilian internees” instead of prisoners of war and began to screen all of its prisoners to review who wanted to be returned to their home country, and who did not. The issue of what to do with prisoners of war deadlocked peace talks from 1952 until 1953 when communists decided they were willing to allow prisoners of war to decide where they wanted to return.
Source:http://asianhistory.about.com/od/warsinasia/ig/Korean-War-Photos/Injured-US-POW.htm