The origin of the Korean War, its course and outcome can be traced to the policies of the leaders and the strategy of the generals.
Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 to 8 July 1994)
Kim Il-sung was the Premier of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and Supreme Commander of the North Korean People's Army during the Korean War.
As a member of the Chinese communist-led North-East Anti-Japanese Army, Kim fought the Japanese in Manchuria from 1932 to 1941. Kim's guerrilla record and the support of Soviet occupying authorities secured his political and military control of North Korea before the Korean War.
The invasion of South Korea by North Korea was initiated by Kim's Soviet backers, but it was also Kim's wish to unite his country. With the defeat of his invasion in 1950, the subsequent United Nations (UN) offensive into his country, and the arrival of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, Kim's influence waned.
Nevertheless, within North Korea, his status as leader of both the government and the armed forces remained strong. In 1972, Kim became constitutional President of North Korea and he introduced a new ideology – self-reliance, or Juche.
Kim Il-sung died in 1994 and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il. Kim Il-sung retains the title 'Eternal President' and his birthday is celebrated as a public holiday.
Mao Zedong (26 December 1893 to 9 September 1976)
One of the most important figures of the 20th century, Mao Zedong was pivotal to the Chinese involvement in the Korean War. Mao was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party. he became Chairman of the Central People's Government (China) in 1949 after leading the party to victory in the Chinese revolution.
In alliance with Joseph Stalin, the Premier of the Soviet Union, and Kim Il-sung, Mao helped North Korea prepare for war by sending 3 Korean-manned infantry divisions. The infantry had fought with the communists during the Chinese revolution.
Mao ordered Chinese military intervention in the Korean War in October 1950 when UN troops invaded North Korea. He feared China's exposure to foreign invasion should North Korea be defeated and occupied. Mao saw intervention as a necessity to protect his revolution. China's civil war had just finished and Mao's enemy, the Chinese nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek, were holding the offshore island of Taiwan. Moreover, the UN had demonstrated its hostility to communist China by allowing China's seat in the UN to be retained by Chiang's nationalists.
While the Chinese intervention failed to unify Korea under Kim Il-Sung, it did force the UN to abandon its hope to unify the country under southern leadership and demonstrated China's power to the world.
After the Korean War, Mao helped fund the reconstruction of North Korea. In 1966, Mao launched the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, leading to widespread economic and political ruin. Mao's death in 1976 left an economically depressed China.
Marshal Peng Dehuai (24 October 1898 to 29 November 1974)
The commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army in Korea, Peng served as an army officer for 43 years. Peng lost his parents when he was 9 and worked as a coal miner until he was 16. That's when he was accepted into the Hunan Military Academy. He was an officer with Chiang Kai-shek's nationalists, then he changed sides in 1927, joining the Communist Party.
An army commander during the communist's 'long march', Peng later commanded guerrilla forces behind Japanese lines. After the Japanese surrender, Peng commanded the 1st Chinese Army until the communists won the revolution in 1949.
In 1950, Peng led the 310,000-strong People's Volunteer Army in its intervention in the Korean War. Praised for his spectacular first offensive against General Douglas MacArthur's UN forces, Peng lost prestige when later Chinese attacks proved to be less successful. Peng nevertheless retained command of Chinese forces in Korea until the end of the war.
After the war, Peng was Defence Minister until he was arrested during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s. He was placed under house arrest, tortured and sometimes publicly beaten at rallies designed to humiliate him. Peng died in 1974.
Joseph Stalin (18 December 1878 to 5 March 1953)
Joseph Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili) was General Secretary of the Soviet Union's Communist Party from 1922 to 1953 and Soviet Premier from 1941 to 1953. He allied with the United States (US) against Hitler's Germany in World War II.
At the 1945 Yalta Conference, Stalin readily agreed to temporarily split Korea into north and south along the 38th parallel. However, he soon fell out with the US and the United Kingdom (UK) over other aspects of the post-war political settlement. This started the Cold War.
Before the Soviets developed their own atomic weapons in 1949, Stalin was reluctant to risk a war with the US by supporting a North Korean invasion of South Korea. He was further encouraged in 1949 by the communist Chinese victory in their civil war with the nationalists. He now had a powerful ally in the north Asia region.
Stalin met Kim Il-sung in Moscow in late 1949 and agreed to provide technical and financial aid for the North Korean invasion. Covertly, he also provided Soviet military personnel, 282 of whom were killed in the Korean War.
After the tide of events turned with the UN landing at Inchon, Stalin distanced himself from the war, although he opposed any peace settlement. His death in 1953 removed a major obstacle to ending the Korean War.