June 25,1950 - July 27,1953
Korean War, conflict between the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million persons lost their lives. The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the People’s Republic of China came to North Korea’s aid. After more than a million combat casualties had been suffered on both sides, the fighting ended in July 1953 with Korea still divided into two hostile states. Negotiations in 1954 produced no further agreement, and the front line has been accepted ever since as the de facto boundary between North and South Korea. More information from the Encyclopedia Britannica
The Korean War: An International History by
This first truly international history of the Korean War argues that by its timing, its course, and its outcome it functioned as a substitute for World War III. Stueck draws on recently available materials from seven countries, plus the archives of the United Nations, presenting a detailed narrative of the diplomacy of the conflict and a broad assessment of its critical role in the Cold War.
Korean War: An Interpretative History by
An interpretative history of the Korean War. The text examines the war within the broader context of Korea's history, offering an analysis of the course of the war, and assessing the role of both North and South Korea and the allied forces in the conflict.
1945
The Cairo Declaration, issued on December 1, 1943, by the United States, Great Britain, and China, pledged independence for Korea “in due course.” At the Yalta Conference held in February 1945, a four-power trusteeship for Korea consisting of the United States, Great Britain, the U.S.S.R., and the Republic of China was proposed. The General Order No. 1, drafted on August 11 by the United States for Japanese surrender terms in Korea, provided for Japanese forces north of latitude 38° N (the 38th parallel) to surrender to the Soviets and those south of that line to the Americans. The historic decision to divide the peninsula has aroused speculation on several counts. Some historians attribute the division of Korea to military expediency in receiving the Japanese surrender, while others believe that the decision was a measure to prevent the Soviet forces from occupying the whole of Korea. More information from the Encyclopedia Britannica
Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey: A Short History by
For more than half of the twentieth century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two hostile and competitive nation-states, each claiming to be the sole legitimate expression of the Korean nation. The division remains an unsolved problem dating to the beginnings of the Cold War and now projects the politics of that period into the twenty-first century.
Korea's Divided Families: 50 Years of Separation by
The divided families problem is a serious social issue in North and South Korea, involving hundreds of thousands of first generation divided family members, most of whom have not seen their relatives since the Korean War. It is the most pressing humanitarian issue between the two Koreas, and is connected to the greater issue of human rights in North Korea today.