Thursday, April 22, 2021

3:30-5:00 pm EST

Online Via Zoom

Canadian armed forces fought in the Korean War alongside soldiers from the United States and other United Nations member states, helping to protect the Republic of Korea (South Korea) from repeated North Korean and Chinese encroachments south of the 38th Parallel.

With nearly 30,000 boots on the ground in Korea, Canada fought in several key battles and engagements, provided naval and aerial support to the UN, and suffered hundreds of combat causalities. Although often overlooked or forgotten, the Korean War is a key chapter in the US-Canada relationship, in Canada’s modern military history, and in the record of Canada’s engagement with multilateral and collective security institutions.

On the seventieth anniversary of one of the most notable episodes of Canadian involvement in the Korean War, the Battle of Kapyong, the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute and History and Public Policy Program are bringing together three leading specialists in Canada’s diplomatic and military history to examine the Canadian experience of this devastating conflict. What domestic and international forces drove Canada to participate in the UN intervention in Korea? How did the war shape or reshape the US-Canada relationship? What did Canada’s participation in the war look like? How did Canadian soldiers experience the conflict? What lingering issues did Canadian veterans face after the cessation of hostilities in 1953? And finally, how is the Korean War remembered in Canada today?

Event sponsored by the History and Public Policy Program, the Canada Institute, the Asia Program, the Cold War International History Project, and the North Korea International Documentation Project at the Woodrow Wilson Centre.