Quickening of ROK Army

 

 

 

In 1945, Koreans who had experienced military services abroad returned to Korea with the independence of Korea from Japan on August 15. Thinking over the painful experiences of the past, they organized a group for armed forces foundation. Here are full story of Quickening of ROK Army before the Korean War.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Awakening Period of ROK National Armed Force.

 

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  US military government established its laws on November 13, 1945 and under the provision of the BAMBOO plan, the US military government disorganized the group to absorb members into the defense force by establishing a military corps of 25,000 soldiers. The US military government established the Military English Academy on December 5, 1945 to train cadets for the defense force. The US military government selected young men who had military experiences in Japan, Manchuria, and China. 110 military cadets were commissioned? after completing the basic English education. These officers were founders of the National Defense Force in Taenung, Kyunggi Province on January 15, 1946.

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

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The Period of ROK National defense

Security Force Establishment.

 

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 The ROK Army established its 1st National Security Regiment in Tae-neung, Seoul, in January, 1946 and a National Security Command was established in Seoul on February 1, 1946. By November 1946, ROKA established 2nd~9th regiments in each province.

 

 In May, 1946, Southern Cho-sun National Defense Security Military Academy was established in Tae-neung, Seoul and initially started to train military officers by accepting 88 infantry cadets.

 

The ROK changed the name of its National Defense Command to the Ministry of National Defense on March 29, 1946. Again on June 15, 1946, it was renamed to Chief Command. The National Security Regiments were renamed to Southern Cho-sun Security Force, and National Defense Security Military Academy was changed to Southern Cho-sun Security Military Academy as well. After the break-down of the USㆍRussia Conference, the Cho-sun Security Force expanded to 5 brigades, and 15 regiments (about 50,000 soldiers) in 1948.

   As for a military educational facility, ROKA tried to enhance the quality of its officer corps by sending students to the US. By the end of the 1950s, 10,000 students were sent to US military schools.

 

 

 

  

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  The Period of ROK National Armed Force Establishment.

   

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  As the official ROK government and its National Armed Force was established on August 15, 1948, the Cho-sun Security Force was integrated with the National Armed Force. Many experienced military seniors from the ROK Independence Force, Japanese Force, Manchurian Force and civilians from North and South Korea joined the ROK National Armed Force.

 

  In November, 1946, the ROK congress passed a new law related to the National Armed Force organization. Thus, on December 15, 1948, Chief of Staff of National Armed Force was assigned to MND and Chief of Staff & Vice Chief of Staff to ROKA HQs.

 

  In December, 1948, a Branch of Service System was introduced. ROKA was divided into Infantryㆍ ArmorㆍCommunicationㆍAviationㆍLogisticsㆍAccountantㆍInspectorㆍSurgeonㆍ Military Police branches and enacted the general staff system. In May, 1949, Chief of staff system in MND ended and the Minister of National Defence became in charge of ROK Army and Navy.

 

  ROKA promoted prior Brigades to Divisions and established 7th and 8th Divisions additionally. ROKA organized a Regional Army Command and National Defense Army to ensure sufficient reserve forces.

 

 

 

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The Beginning Stage of ROK National Armed Force.

 

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  Starting with the April 3rd incident in Je-ju island in 1948, these communists led riots such as October 19th incident in Yeo-su. Sun-chon, and the 6th regiment incident in Dae-gu. Thus, without enough time to self-organize completely, ROKA established a Battle Command and executed missions to repress these riots. ROKA also made efforts to weed out communists from within. As a result, ROKA arrested 1,300 communists through 4 iterations of self-inspection process from October, 1948, to the outbreak of the Korean War.

  Prior to the outbreak of Korean War, North Korea sent guerrillas to South Korea through the East sea and Tae-baek Mountains so that they could join the communists in Ji-ri, Oh-dae, Tae-baek Mountains and create confusion in rear areas. Since early 1950, North Korea started to raise military confrontations along the 38th parallel.

  For this, ROKA established a Sweeping Command against the communists in Tae-baek, Ji-ri Mountains and Ho-nam province to execute anti-communist operations. Before ROKA could finish anti-communist operations, the Korean War began with a sudden invasion by the North.

 

 

- the source of the articles from ROK ARMY Homepage