By the end of the war, the US and Chinese armies had sent 3 million troops to the battlefield. The US army dispatched one-third of its army, one-fifth of its air force and nearly half of its navy, while China sent 19 armies of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army comprising 1.34 million personnel.

War Records

On October 25, 1953, the Associated Press reported that a total of 1.47 million so called “UN troops” had been killed in the war. The History of the Korea War compiled by the National Defense Department of the Republic of Korea and Military History, a Japanese magazine, recorded a figure of 1.16 million. According to the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army to Fight Against the US Aggression and Aid Korea, published in 1988, the Chinese and Korean sides jointly wiped out 1.09 million enemy troops (136,000 by the People’s Republic of Korea), broken down into 390,000 US troops, 660,000 troops of the Republic of Korea, and 20,000 vassal troops.

Deaths and Injury

The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army paid a high price for its victory in the war. The overall casualty rate was 360,000, including 115,000 war dead and 221,000 wounded, plus a further 25,000 victims of accidents and illness. A total of 29,000 volunteers were reported missing or captured.

Losses

The war cost the US military US$83 billion, including 73 million tons of war materials.

The Chinese and Korean armies used 5.6 million tons of military supplies and total expenditure came to 6.25 billion yuan.

Army Withdrawal

On March 12, 1958, the headquarters of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army announced a three-stage withdrawal from Korea before the end of December 1958. The first batch of 80,000 in six armies would withdraw before April 30; the second batch of 100,000 in six armies and the special troops would withdraw before August 14; the third batch of 70,000, including the headquarters, in three armies, and logistical units would withdraw before October 26.

(CIIC 10/19/2000)