The Korean War by Indy Neidell - Season 3

1. The Korean War Week 81: Ridgway Admits the UN is Little Threat! - January 6, 1952

Aired: 1/6/2026

The year may have changed, familiar faces come and go, but some things remain the same. The POW issue continues to dominate and frustrate armistice talks, the fear of an expanded war in Asia re-emerges, and the snow remains cold. The war found no end and no pause in either 1950 or 1951, but third time's the charm, surely?

2. The Korean War Week 82: Operation Strangle Isn't Strangling! - January 13, 1952

Aired: 1/13/2026

Operation Strangle, to destroy enemy logistical capability with air power, has been in progress for months now, and yet the enemy is still able to bring up men and supplies, and even slowly stockpile them for possible future offensives. The UN position now is that should there be an armistice, and should the other side break its terms, retaliation would be broader and would include actions against Communist China, but will the UN have the force to do such retaliation? That is the question.

3. The Korean War Week 83: The Medics' War! - January 20, 1952

Aired: 1/20/2026

There's discussion- and disagreement- in UN Command and Washington about whether or not to poll all the POWs the UN side holds to see where they would like to go should they be released. There are arguments for and against this, and it brings up a couple different interpretations of the Geneva Convention. This week we also talk a lot about recent medical advances in field medicine in Korea, and the development of the 'Medics' War'.

4. The Korean War Week 84: Inside Truman's Diary - January 27, 1952

Aired: 1/27/2026

Things heat up in the Panmunjom Peace Talks, which each side arguing that the other side's proposals violate the Geneva Convention, but by the end of the week they talks are in recess. Naval aircraft pound the North Korean infrastructure all week long, though, and US President Harry Truman has a few things to say about the Soviet Union that the world may wish to hear.

5. The Korean War Week 85: Futilely Pounding North Korea? - February 3, 1952

Aired: 2/3/2026

The UN forces are by now having trouble just keeping their planes in the skies, thanks to shortages of spare parts, so for long can they maintain aerial supremacy over Korea? And though the aerial campaign to destroy North Korean infrastructure has been stepped up, so too has the enemy's ability to quickly rebuild. And at the armistice talks, the big issue this week is which countries will form inspection teams after an armistice, and who might be out of the question. The Soviets?

6. The Korean War Week 86: Koje-do: A Simmering Cauldron - February 10, 1952

Aired: 2/10/2026

An astonishing accusation about chemical weapons by Soviet diplomat Yakov Malik dominates headlines this week, as the POW issue continues to plague ceasefire negotiations. But those are far from the only developments this week. Elsewhere, overcrowding, poor conditions, and lack of firm control escalate tensions at the UN's Koje-do POW camp, perhaps beginning to precipitate unpredictable and dangerous results...

7. The Korean War Week 87: What's Going On In Compound 62? - February 17, 1952

Aired: 2/17/2026

UN forces kick off this week with an operation to ensnare and capture North Korean and Chinese patrols, as significant progress is made elsewhere at the armistice talks. Prisoners really do seem to be the focus of the week, as rumblings of discontent continue to build at the POW camp on Koje-do island as UN control of the camp slips a little more each day. Just what is happening inside Compound 62 there? And do UN forces have a hope to stop it?

8. The Korean War Week 88: Riot or Revolution? - February 24, 1952

Aired: 2/24/2026

The tensions at Koje-do POW camp explode this week, ending in heavy bloodshed as UN forces desperately try to wrestle control of the situation. Changes will need to be made to counter the growing threat of disorder, and fast. Elsewhere, the Communist forces are on the attack this week, both in the field and through diplomatic channels, as a naval invasion of Yang-do launches and accusations of biological weapons ramp up.

9. The Korean War Week 89: Is There Such Thing As Soviet Neutrality? - March 3, 1952

Aired: 3/3/2026

The UN is not just worried that the Communists have strong air power, they're worried that because they can't produce more jets quickly enough, the Communist advantage in the skies will soon become insurmountable, but they at least have plans to try and stave that off. They also have plans for rotating in fresh troops, but those plans have stumbling blocks of their own, as do the negotiations about who might be part of a post-armistice supervisory team, specifically the USSR, whom the US does not see as 'neutral' with regard to this war.

10. The Korean War Week 90: No Surrender, No Armistice... No Hope? - March 10, 1952

Aired: 3/10/2026

Ultimatums and blackmail! Well, sort of. US President Harry Truman is trying to strong arm South Korean President Syngman Rhee into accepting any armistice negotiated, but the armistice talks are taking forever, so there are those who wish to simply give the Communists a take it or leave it ultimatum. What might such an ultimatum be? Find out this week!

11. The Korean War Week 91: The South Korean Economy is Dying - March 17, 1952

Aired: 3/17/2026

There's tension between Allies as the ROK economy worsens and worsens, part of the problem being caused by all the South Korean currency printed to respond to the demand for it by the UN forces to buy 'stuff'. Inflation is growing by leaps and bounds. However, at least some tension between enemies lessens, as one more point of the agenda at the Panmunjom Peace talks is settled.

12. The Korean War Week 92: Operation Mixmaster! - March 24, 1952

Aired: 3/24/2026

The UN forces begin a huge operation to move the US 1st Marine Division to new defensive positions far to the west of the former ones, but this involves moving some 200,000 men back and forth along the lines. Behind the lines, the ROK continues building up force trying to turn itself into a well equipped and trained modern army, and above the lines the tech war marches on as the UN premieres a new night fighter.

13. The Korean War Week 93: Who Wants To Be President? - March 31, 1952

Aired: 3/31/2026

A surprise announcement this week leaves the US wondering just who is going to run for President- the election is this fall. Whoever does run and win, it can't help but have an impact on this war. As for what's going on in the war, Operation Mixmaster winds up, having moved the US 1st Marine Division far to the west along the front lines. The operation was a success, but there are a host of new dangers to deal with in the new defenses. Operation Saturate goes into action- this is another aerial interdiction campaign against Communist logistics, but early results are disappointing, and the future composition of the South Korean armed forces because more and more an issue of contention.

14. The Korean War Week 94: Mines, Marines, and Mayhem - April 7, 1952

Aired: 4/7/2026

In order to try and make some progress on the thorny issue of POW repatriation, the UN offers to screen all the POWs they hold to get an exact number of who refuses to be sent back. The Communists agree and the plans are put in motion. Plans in the field are finishing up, with the US 1st Marine Division having moved to new positions in the west, but they now have to deal with the unforeseen issue of thousands of landmines. They did not see that coming.

15. The Korean War Week 95: Ammunition Shortage Threatens Disaster - April 14, 1952

Aired: 4/14/2026

US Marines begin to make contact with their Communist Chinese adversaries in their new position in the west of Korea, but a more insidious issue is beginning to threaten the UN war effort: dwindling stockpiles of ammunition. In fact, two-thirds of the US army's procurement budget is going exclusively to ammunition, but production lag - the time between paying for something and actually getting it - is putting Eighth Army operations at risk. Elsewhere, POW screening begins, with results that might throw a wrench into the painstakingly negotiated armistice terms back at Panmunjom.

16. The Korean War Week 96: Korean Marines Leapfrog the Han - April 21, 1952

Aired: 4/21/2026

UN Command completes its screening of the 170,000 military and civilian POWs they hold to see how many of them would violently resist repatriation, and it turns out it's most of them. The Communists are furious. This cannot be good for the armistice negotiations. We also take a look at the defense possibilities the Marines have in their new positions and which Chinese forces oppose them.

17. The Korean War Week 97: A Peace Proposal Package - April 28, 1952

Aired: 4/28/2026

There is what should be major news this week as the UN gives the Communists a peace proposal package at long last that addresses the remaining three issues to solve. It does not seem that it will be accepted by the Communist side, though, with the only sticking point being the issue of POW repatriation. There's also still more unrest and protest at Koje-Do POW camp. And it looks like we'll be getting a new UN forces commander, since Matt Ridgway will soon head to Europe to take over NATO command there.

18. The Korean War Week 98: Two Sides. One Issue. No Peace. - May 5, 1952

Aired: 5/5/2026

At the end of last week the UN presented a peace package proposal to the Communists at the peace talks, but that package has been rejected. The only issue still left to clear up is that of POW repatriation, but that seems insurmountable, at least for the time being. In the field, there are ambushes, skirmishes, and night patrols, but still no larger scale actions, and the temperature at Koje-Do POW camp continues to rise and rise, perhaps nearing a boiling point.

19. The Korean War Week 99: The War's Most Humiliating Crisis - May 12, 1952

Aired: 5/12/2026

The world turns it's eyes to the UN POW camp at Koje-Do island when the Communist POWs in one of the compounds kidnap the Camp Commandant, an American General no less, and issue demands that they say must be met before his release. Can this be settled diplomatically, or is the army going in in force?

20. The Korean War Week 100: Mark Clark in Command - May 19, 1952

Aired: 5/19/2026

Mark Clark is the new UN Commander and will run the war in Korea, replacing Matt Ridgway, who leaves for Europe to take over NATO Command. The Koje-Do POW camp situation is resolved, but is a black eye for the UN, as are the allegations that the US has been practicing germ warfare in Korea and Manchuria, backed up by 'confessions' from captured American airmen.

21. The Korean War Week 101: Another Week, Another POW Riot - May 26, 1952

Aired: 5/26/2026

In the wake of the kidnapping of the Koje-Do POW camp commandant, UN Commander Mark Clark is busy really working on expanding security at all the POW camps in Korea and gaining total internal control of them. However, the damage done to the UN's global reputation by the whole incident is considerable, and at the negotiating table the Communists denounce the UN and UN Chief Delegate Turner Joy leaves his post to return to the states. The war in the field goes on as always, with the Philippine Battalion Combat Team seeing success in the field.

22. The Korean War Week 102: American Bioweapons on Korean Soil? - June 2, 1952

Aired: 6/2/2026

The Chinese continue their campaign of accusing the US of practicing germ warfare in North Korea and Manchuria. Meanwhile in South Korea, Syngman Rhee has declared martial law in Pusan as part of his campaign to remain in power.

23. The Korean War Week 103: - June 9, 1952

Aired: 6/9/2026

24. The Korean War Week 104: - June 16, 1952

Aired: 6/16/2026

25. The Korean War Week 105: - June 23, 1952

Aired: 6/23/2026

26. The Korean War Week 106: - June 30, 1952

Aired: 6/30/2026

27. The Korean War Week 107: - July 7, 1952

Aired: 7/7/2026

28. The Korean War Week 108: - July 14, 1952

Aired: 7/14/2026

29. The Korean War Week 109: - July 21, 1952

Aired: 7/21/2026

30. The Korean War Week 110: - July 28, 1952

Aired: 7/28/2026