From One Divided Country to Another: The Korean War in Mongolia

Abstract

The little-known role of Mongolia in the Korean War highlights longforgotten dimensions of this conflict. Mongols on both sides of the SinoMongolian border participated in and made important contributions to the Korean War. Both provided assistance to North Korea. The Socialist united front in the post–World War II international order provided the common ground for this historical collaboration of Mongols, and the role of the independent Mongolian People’s Republic (MPR) in the war laid the basis for an ongoing close relationship between the MPR and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea). This story also reminds us of the important role that animals, particularly horses, played in a war that was the site of one of the world’s last significant military cavalry actions, and sheds light on the complex movements of animals and people across Northeast Asia precipitated by the Korean War. But confusions surrounding the role of the MPR and Inner Mongolia in the war deepened the MPR’s diplomatic isolation from the rest of the world. In this sense, divided Mongolia’s role in the war had consequences that affected East Asian international relations for decades.