United States Involvement 

Although the Korean War was considered forgotten it had a huge influence on the Cold War, worldwide communist expansion, and present day Korea.  The underlying reason that the Korean War broke out was because it was just another episode in the ongoing Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.  On the surface, the Korean WAr seemed to be a war between South Korea and North Korea, but really the superpowers were just using it as a front to combat each other without actually going into a 'hot war'.  The Korean War was essential in preventing the spread of communism.  Communism was initiated in Asia.  If the spread of communism was successful, it would have spread through the world. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

"We thought the North Koreans would back off once they saw American uniforms." - Phil Day

 The United States' support of South Korean strongmen such as Syngman Rhee has driven a wedge between North and South because of their violent oppositions to communism.  The United States and the Soviets used Korea as a battlefield to take out their anger on each other and essentially split Korea in two.  The United States/United Nations fought for South Korea because the North was attacking them and they didn't want the Korean Peninsula to become entirely communist.  China and the Soviet Union entered the war because there was spill on Macarthur planning to bomb both China and the Soviet Union.  (Encyclopedia Britannica)

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