Korean War

Korean War

“the forgotten war”

“There is no substitute for victory.”
--General Douglas MacArthur, a letter leaked to the press in March 1951

At the end of World War II, Korea was divided into two separate entities: North Korea and South Korea. A military conflict occurred over territorial clashes for which the United Nations supported South Korea, and The People's Republic of China backed North Korea. The Korean War established the first conflict between two alliances with nuclear power.

The clash stemmed from the issue of communism and marked the beginning of the Cold War. More than 3 million people lost their lives, although it is often called “The Forgotten War,” overshadowed by World War II and the following Vietnam War.

The 38th parallel became a political border between the Korean states, and without free elections on either side division between the communist government of the North and the technically democratic government of the South only increased.

Unification negotiations only intensified tensions in the months leading up to the Korean War. Battles initiated in 1950 with North Korean leader Kim IL Sung invaded South Korea in an attempt to unify the country under Communist rule.

South Korea refused to sign a peace treaty, so the North and South never officially ended the war which continued into the 21st century. The border between the two countries is almost exactly the same as before the war started.

Also, the so-called “Cold War” nuclear tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S. continued until the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was enacted in 1963 to ban nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere, outer space and underwater. A total of 2,057 nuclear tests have taken place since 1945.

Source:
PBS The American Experience: The Korean War
History. The Korean War