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The Korean War, also known as the Forgotten War, began in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. It escalated into a multinational conflict, with North Korea receiving support from Russia and China, and the South receiving support from the United Nations and the United States. The war ended with a ceasefire but no formal peace treaty. The conflict resulted in the deaths of 600,000 Koreans, with 85% being civilians. The Korean War was the first armed confrontation of the Cold War and represented the first unified effort by the free world to counter communist aggression. The conflict continues today in a heavily armed standoff along the Demilitarized Zone.
The Korean War was fought between June 1950 and July 1953. Also known as the Korean Conflict, the Forgotten War and the Homeland Liberation War, it officially began after North Korea invaded South Korea crossing the borders of the two regions known as the 38th parallel. Beginning as a civil conflict between two provisional governments competing for control, the war quickly escalated into a multinational conflict. It ended with a ceasefire between the two warring factions, North Korea and South Korea, but without the security of a formally established peace treaty. The North Koreans found support from Russia and China, while sympathies for the South were from the United Nations and the United States.
Some refer to the Korean War as the “forgotten war” because it occurred between the bloodiest and most globally devastating conflicts of World War II and the Vietnam War in history. North Korea’s greatest military weakness, despite the success of its 135,000 troops, was its inability to ferry much-needed supplies south to keep up with the progress of the war. Many civilians who were forced to carry supplies across enemy lines at the 38th parallel during the Korean War were killed by airstrikes. In fact, of the 600,000 Koreans who have lost their lives in the war, 85 percent of them were civilians. While North Korea lacked the stability of proper transportation lines, South Korea had fewer and less well-armed troops, numbering about 65,000.
President Truman ordered American naval and maritime forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur to enter the fray to counter the advance of North Korea, making the Korean War the first armed confrontation of the Cold War. Backed by a United Nations command calling on all members to support South Korea’s fight, MacArthur’s military might assured South Korea, thus meeting the daring global challenge of communism and pushing back the forces of China and Russia .
This war represents the first unified effort by the free world to counter communist aggression. POWs on both sides were badly treated, and many died terrible deaths. The conflict started by the Korean War more than half a century ago continues to this day, not in a military battle, but in a tense, heavily armed standoff along the Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ.
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