The Korean War and the environment

This paper studies the Korean War from an environmental perspective. The paper examines the political background that aggravated environmental damage and the ways in which hydro-warfare, ecological warfare, and epidemics are interconnected. By focusing on environmental destruction during the Korean War, this research questions the view of post-1950s industrialization and urbanization as the main sources of environmental crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The paper examines some of the major wartime disasters, such as the destruction of hydroelectric and irrigation dams and epidemic outbreaks. Special attention is given to the impact of aerial bombing, which not only resulted in the deaths of millions, but also created a chain effect of environmental destruction, population displacement, flooding, famine, and epidemic outbreaks. In revisiting them, it conclusively looks at the impact that military activities have on the environment and how the Korean War foreshadowed the rise of environmental warfare during the Cold War.