The U.S. Dropped More Bombs on Korea than in the Entire Pacific During WWII
The United States was willing to unleash the fury of their entire military on North Korea in order to win the war. That included an enormous number of bombs. Over the course of the war 635,000 tons of bombs were dropped on the 45,541 square miles of North Korean territory. By contrast, 504,000 tons were dropped by the United States during the entire Pacific Theater of WWII.
The bombings devastated the country, and even without the resources currently devoted to the military, it would have been a massive blow to overcome. Estimates put the death toll from the bombs at 12 to 15% percent of the population of the country. Air Force General Curtis LeMay, head of Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, put the death toll even higher, at 20%.
But it was not just the loss of life that devastated the country. Entire cities were bombed to the ground and napalm was used on villages and towns. When it became harder to find suitable urban targets, the bombings turned to hydroelectric and irrigation dams in order to flood the farmlands and destroy what crops the North Koreans had. This was coupled with bad weather that nearly collapsed the entire economy of the country after the war.
The bombing and the subsequent devastation left by the United States during the war continues to fuel the hatred and animosity of the North Koreans today. They blame the United States for their current struggles and for the millions of lives that were lost in the war. It is estimated that half of all deaths during the Korean War were civilians.