In my high school history class, all we really learned about the Korean War was that it happened, when it started, and when it ended. In the same class there was a pretty rigorous coverage of WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam War. Similarly, there are plenty of books and movies about WWI, WWII, and the Vietnam war, but very few about the Korean War. So why, despite its size in terms of countries involved, manpower, and causalities and influence on modern geopolitics, has the Korean War been almost forgotten in modern America?
This is a good question that stems into a larger conversation. What makes any war forgotten? There are plenty of conflicts throughout history that have been widely ignored by a majority of society despite their impact, i.e. the War of 1812, The Spanish Civil War, the Yugoslav Wars, etc. The Korean War isn’t forgotten by any means in terms of historians and veterans, but the general population lacks any in depth knowledge of the war. It has become a topic of discussion lately due to recent geopolitical events, but for the most part, it’s history is ignored. The answer to this question isn’t absolute but a lot of this can be attributed to a lack of modern media attention. Specifically movies and video games.
World War II has undoubtedly been oversaturated with films, strategy games, first person shooters, etc. Because of this, most Americans are knowledgeable of the war and it’s impact (despite painful inaccuracies in most of these examples). The Vietnam War shares similar attention, but is largely defined by the iconic music of the era. The image of a UH- 1 Iroquois or “Huey” landing in a rice paddy while “Fortunate Son” plays in the distance is often engraved into the minds of those who hear the defining song of the era. The Korean War lacks that same effect on modern culture.
Why is this? The Korean war lacked many of the defining characteristics of other recent conflicts. The weapons used in the Korean war were the same iconic weapons of WWII. In American culture, the M1 Garand and M1A1 Thompson have been so closely associated with the romanticized image of Americans storming Normandy beach that it’s uncommon for those who lack a real interest in history to have knowledge of their use in other theaters and eras. I can only speak for my own country so I’m not sure if the countries of the Commonwealth, modern day Russia, China, and other belligerents remember the war differently. However the war is by no means forgotten in either Korea. The topic is very sensitive in this part of the world and is likely the reason South Korean companies avoid it.
While the Korean theater proved to be significant in the development of Jet fighters and helicopter strategies that would later be used in Vietnam, none of these new technologies were iconic enough to invest Western companies into making Korean War games and movies. Even if the conflict is mentioned, it often only ties into the Cold War as a whole.
While this lack of media attention isn’t the only reason the Korean War is largely forgotten, I believe it plays a crucial role in explaining why a country that invested significant resources and manpower could forget such a costly conflict.