A Research On British Policy Toward The Korean War

This thesis takes British policies as a starting point, the evolution of the KoreanWar as a context, the theory of international relations as an analytical tool, and UnitedStates National Security Council documents，British overseas policies and documentsand British Foreign and Commonwealth Office documents as histoircal data.Anglicizing such historical data aims at a thorough understanding of the role of the UKduring the Korean War and a complete knowledge of the UK foreign policies duringthe Korean War, including the UK Cold War policies.Atfer the outbreak of the Korean War in1950，the United Kingdom, as a key U.S.ally，was still forced into the dispute, though it had no greater economic and strategicinterests in North Korea. This paper is divided into six parts, including the introduction,body of four chapters and the conclusion. The main contents are as follows:The first chapter describes the advances in research at home and abroad, thesigniifcance of the topic, research methods and research purposes.The second chapter introduces the fact that the UK took a hesitant attitude in itsforeign policies shortly atfer the Korean War broke out because the UK had no greatereconomic and strategic interests in Korea.The third chapter descirbes the British effotrs made to prevent war expansion bymaking contacts with the Soviet Union and with the United States to exchange viewson the North Korea issue.The fourth chapter focuses on the truth that the peace process on the Koreanpeninsula went slowly though the United Kingdom made greater efforts to prevent warexpansion.The fifth chapter focuses on the capacity of the UK, in which the UK made use ofits international position to maneuver at its will and give full play to the distinctivecharacter of its diplomacy as an old imperialist power rfom the start of truce talks inJune1951to the conclusion of the Korean Armistice Agreement in July1953.It is concluded that the foreign policies of the UK were characteirzed bycompromise made with no choice because of the UK’s weakness in national strength as ’well as the UKs reliance on the United States in security and economic aspects. Ingeneral，however, the British diplomacy was featured by stirving for the initiativewhen in a passive position, and grasping every chance for showing its initiative duirngthe Korean War.