Overview of the Korean War
Background information
The Korean War was a war between North and South Korea from the 25th of June 1950 to the 27th of July 1953. It arose due to the division of Korea at the end of World War II and the global conflict between economic and political systems produced by the Cold War. With the death of nearly 5 million people, the Korean War was considered one of the most intense conflicts of the Cold War.
Before the warAt the beginning of the 20th Century, Korea was part of the Japanese Empire, due to their victory in the Russo-Japanese War from 1904-1905. This lasted until the defeat of Japan in World War II. Korea was then occupied by the Soviets to the North and the United States to the South, with a border along the 38th parallel. The North was called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), lead by Kim Il Sung, and the South was called the Republic of Korea (ROK), lead by Syngman Rhee.
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During the warThe war officially began when the DPRK crossed the border and attacked the ROK. Over a few months the DPRK army had engulfed almost the entire southern peninsula and had forced the ROK army into Pusan. After hearing the news of the attack, the United States called for a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, and discussed the communist motives of the DPRK and the Soviet Union. The UN sent forces to the peninsula to stop communist advances and the further spread of communism. Their entry into war created global conflict and involvement.
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After the warIt took two years of peace talks and negotiations between the two sides for an armistice to be signed on the 27th of July 1953. The boundary between North and South Korea was recreated to give South Korea an extra 1500 square miles of land. The Korean War was relatively short but had caused the death of nearly 5 million people. Over half of these deaths were civilians, making the rate of civilian casualties higher than World War II's and Vietnam's.
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