The Korean War began with an invasion of South Korea by North Korea in 1950. North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union and China. South Korea was backed by the United Nations Command which was led by the United States.
The end of World War II saw the liberation of Korea as a Japanese colony. It was then divided into a North and South by the Soviet Union and the US. This division inevitably turned into a division of government.
Seoul’s leadership in the south began to persecute communists. This caused Pyongyang’s leadership in the north to initiate an invasion. This became devastating for the south.
The UN forces provided most of the military power for the south. Nearing defeat, the UN troops were able to infiltrate the north and cut off supply lines and troops.
The fighting went back and forth for three years. In 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was reached and signed. This ended the fighting and the trade of prisoners began.
However, over these three years, many families were split up, displaced, and killed. Over 3 million people were killed during this war, a huge portion being civilians. Korea became one of the most heavily bombed countries in history, and virtually all large cities were destroyed.
No agreement has yet been reached. No treaty was signed to officially end the war. This is now referred to as a frozen conflict. Let’s take a closer look at what it was like in the midst of the fighting.