Why did America help South Korea?

Answer 1

The US didn't fight Korea in general, just the northern half of it. Korea was divided into two after World War II. The North and the South and this division still exists today. The North was turned into a communist totalitarian Dictatorship by the Soviet Union and the South was a democratic country and an ally of the United States. The two Koreas waged a war towards one another called the Korean War but a ceasefire was held in 1953. Today, there has been no clear winner who won the war and some people say that the two Koreas are still practically at war with one another.

Answer 2

Assuming that the question is asking about why the US fought to defend South Korea in the Korean War in the 1950s, the US was part of the UN forces that fought to protect South Korea from an invasion from North Korea. As is often (always??) the case with the UN-led armies, the US was the predominant 'supplier' of troops and resources in the UN effort, but the US did not - on its own account - defend South Korea; the UN did.

Answer 3

Truman believed South Korea was a small country, unable to defend itself against an enemy supported by the Soviet Union or Communist China, and failure to defend South Korea would send a signal to other nations that the U.S. would not help defend their freedom.

Answer 4

The US consistently defended South Korea during the Cold War because of South Korea's opposition to Communism, in line with US Foreign Policy at the time. As the Cold War was winding down, South Korea shifted from a militaristic government to a more democratic one, which brought it even closer to a US value system. As a result, the US-Korean alliance became stronger after the Cold War ended and became a friendship based both on military alliances and bilateral trade relations. The US and South Korea also fear the possibilities that a nuclear-armed North Korea could bring to bear for the rest of Asia.