Limited war
Truman refused a wider war with China; MacArthur lost his job arguing otherwise.
The first ninety days decided whether a southern state would survive. Inchon then decided whether the war would stay in the south. China decided it would not end at the Yalu.
After spring 1951 the "campaign" was a political negotiation with a battlefield attached -- Heartbreak Ridge and Pork Chop Hill as bargaining chips.
Principles
Coalition legitimacy
The UN flag mattered politically even when the command was American.
Logistics over legend
Inchon worked because of tide tables and shipping, not only boldness.
Talks under fire
Two years of negotiation while men died for yards -- diplomacy as a campaign phase.
Civil war core
Great-power entry never erased Korean political stakes.
Steps
- Invasion
25 June 1950: KPA conventional offensive down the peninsula.
A civil-war opening inside a Cold War frame.
- Internationalisation
UNSC resolutions and US/UN ground entry in July.
Legal path as strategy.
- Perimeter
Hold Pusan long enough for reinforcements and a counterstroke.
Time was the asset.
- Counterstroke and overreach
Inchon, Seoul, then the drive north of the parallel.
Success created a new war with China.
- Intervention and restabilise
PVA entry, winter retreat, Ridgway's spring.
Limited war restored a midline.
- Bargain in place
Kaesong/Panmunjom until 27 July 1953.
The signature froze a political map.
Diagrams
Pusan pocket; Inchon arrow; Yalu and the winter line -- the war as three different countries in one year.
MDL, DMZ, MAC, JSA -- a diagram of a ceasefire that became a border regime.
Limits
North Korean archives
Still largely closed; many KPA figures remain estimates.
Chinese casualty bands
Official and Western figures diverge; we report a range.
No live ORBAT
This page does not describe current DMZ deployments or attack methods.
Amphibious surprise at Inchon is described as history, not as a landing manual.
Winter in the Jangjin/Chosin hills punished units that outran supply -- a logistical fact, not a tip sheet.