Walking on the Pentagon's leash?

Abstract

It is not often known in the Netherlands that nearly 5.000 soldiers served in Korea from December 1950 to January 1955 during the first and only United Nations peace-enforcing mission. In total, 125 Dutch soldiers died during this violent conflict on the Korean peninsula, which was waged between the communist North Korea and American backed South Korea from 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953. Existing literature reveals that the Dutch cabinet was not willing to participate in the Korean War, but eventually decided to send a battalion of volunteers and a total of 6 warships to Korea after pressure from the United States. The Dutch foreign policy was in a process of change from an independent course, based on colonial views, towards Atlanticism during this period. The Netherlands objected the US policy regarding the Korean War several times up to April 1951 and feared that its interests regarding Netherlands New Guinea would be harmed. The limited existing literature state that the Netherlands almost completely withdrew from the Korean question after this period and mostly followed the Atlanticist course of the US. Nevertheless, the war dragged on for 2 more years and Dutch troops stayed in Korea to January 1955, but no thorough research has been conducted about this period. Therefore, the following research question was analysed: How did Dutch policy regarding the Korean War from 9 April 1951 to 24 January 1955 reflect a change in orientation in its foreign and defense policies? The Dutch policy regarding the Korean War could indeed be considered as an expression of a change in its orientation in foreign and defense policies during this period. The Netherlands did confront the Americans several times regarding its Korean War policy, Dutch diplomats did not completely stay aloof and the Netherlands interest in Asia also played a role to shape the actions and reactions of the Dutch cabinet and diplomats from April 1951 to January 1955. So, the Asian perspective was still present, while the Dutch cabinet and diplomats followed the Atlantic course more deliberately after April 1951.