The Korean War was a war between North Korea, with military support from China
and the Soviet Union, and South Korea, backed by personnel from the United Nations
(principally the United States). The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea
invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and insurrections in the
south. The war ended unofficially on 27 July 1953 in an armistice.
After the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, on 15 August
(officially 2 September) 1945, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into
two zones of occupation. The Soviets administered the northern zone and the
Americans administered the southern zone. In 1948, as a result of Cold War
tensions, the occupation zones became two sovereign states. A socialist state was
established in the north under the totalitarian leadership of Kim Il-sung and a
capitalist state in the south under the authoritarian leadership of Syngman Rhee.
Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate
government of all of Korea, and neither accepted the border as permanent.
North Korean Korean People's Army (KPA) forces crossed the border and drove into
South Korea on 25 June 1950. The United Nations Security Council denounced the
North Korean move as an invasion and authorized the formation of the United
Nations Command and the dispatch of forces to Korea to repel it. The Soviet Union
was boycotting the UN for recognising Taiwan as China, and China was not
recognised by the UN, so neither could support the People's Republic of Korea
(PRK). Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the
UN force, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel.
After the first two months of war, South Korean Army (ROKA) and American forces
hastily dispatched to Korea were on the point of defeat, retreating to a small
area behind a defensive line known as the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, a
risky amphibious UN counteroffensive was launched at Incheon, cutting off KPA
troops and supply lines in South Korea. Those who escaped envelopment and capture
were forced back north. UN forces invaded North Korea in October 1950 and moved
rapidly towards the Yalu River—the border with China—but on 19 October 1950,
Chinese forces of the People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered
the war. UN retreat from North Korea after the First Phase Offensive and the
Second Phase Offensive, then Chinese forces were in South Korea by late December.
In these and subsequent battles, Seoul was captured four times, and communist
forces were pushed back to positions around the 38th parallel, close to where the
war had started. After this, the front stabilized, and the last two years were a
war of attrition. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea
was subject to a massive US bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other
in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly
flew in defense of their communist allies.
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed.
The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and
South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty was
ever signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a frozen
conflict. In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the DMZ and
agreed to work toward a treaty to formally end the Korean War.
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