ABSTRACT
General Paik Sun-yup (Paek Sŏn-yŏp), Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) in 1953, proudly claimed that the ROKA of 1953 was “a very much different animal from what it had been” (Paik 1999: 239). This assessment still stands in Korea because it explains not only the ROKA’s development and modernization during the Korean War but also the role of South Korea. In fact, when the armistice was signed in July 1953, the ROKA was defending two-thirds of the front line with 16 divisions, and it would soon expand to a 20-division army. Its strength increased from about 95,000 men in June 1950 to over 554,000 men in July 1953. Considering its short history, this was a great achievement because, just as in other areas of Korean society, the ROK Army had to begin from nothing when the Japanese surrendered in August 1945.
