WikipediaExtracts:Korean War
Extracted from Wikipedia --
The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. It began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea and ceased after an armistice on 27 July 1953. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United States and US-led United Nations (UN) forces.
When World War II ended in 1945, Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for 35 years, was divided by the Soviet Union and United States at the 38th parallel into two zones. Due to Cold War tensions the two zones eventually became sovereign states in 1948. North Korea was led by Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, while South Korea was led by Syngman Rhee in Seoul. Both states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea and neither accepted the 38th parallel border as permanent.
Immediately prior to the war, Seoul was suppressing a communist uprising in Jeju (April 1948 - May 1949) and had border skirmishes with Pyongyang. After failing to unify Korea peacefully and Seoul's violent suppression of South Korean communists, Pyongyang launched an invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950. In the absence of the Soviet Union, the United Nations Security Council denounced the attack and recommended countries to repel the North Korean army (KPA) under the United Nations Command. UN forces comprised twenty-one countries, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel.
After two months of war, the South Korean army (ROKA) and its allies were nearly defeated, holding onto only the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, however, UN forces landed at Incheon, cutting off KPA troops and supply lines. They invaded North Korea in October 1950 and advanced towards the Yalu River—the border with China. On 19 October 1950, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war. UN forces retreated from North Korea following PVA's first and second offensive. Communist forces captured Seoul again in January 1951 before losing it. Following the abortive Chinese spring offensive, they were pushed back to the 38th parallel, and the final two years turned into a war of attrition.
The combat ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed, allowing the exchange of prisoners and the creation of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The conflict displaced milions of people, inflicted around 3 million fatalities and a larger proportion of civilian deaths than World War II or the Vietnam War. Alleged war crimes include the killing of suspected communists by the South Korean government and the torture and starvation of prisoners of war by the North Koreans. North Korea became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history. Virtually all of Korea's major cities were destroyed. No peace treaty was ever signed, making this a frozen conflict.
