G12: The Cold War and the Americas: Rationale and Military Development

The U.S. initially didn’t want to get involved in any kind of invasion. They didn’t want to get tangled up with North Korea, much less China or the Soviet Union

JSTOR article.

JSTOR article

From the UN Korean War Memorial

In October 1950, Chinese troops under the name of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army (CPV) crossed the Yalu River to assist North Korean armies, and engaged in the Korean War in an offensive manner after the U.S. troops crossed the 38th parallel.

In China, the Korean War holds a prominent place in public memory, and it serves a political purpose that has no parallel in America.

JSTOR

According to a letter dictated by Stalin himself, one of the main reasons that Stalin backed a communist invasion of South Korea was to “entangle” the United States in a costly war in East Asia and “distract” America’s attention away from Eastern Europe, Stalin’s real concern.

Document from the Wilson Center