Korea: the unfinished war

Seventy years ago today, my parents were celebrating my second birthday and North Korea commenced the invasion of South Korea. It is astonishing how little people today know about the Korean War.

It lasted three years and, in territorial terms, finished exactly as it had started with the 38th parallel dividing the two Koreas.  Technically the war is not over. No peace treaty was ever signed; instead there was simply a truce and, to this day, South Korea has not actually signed it.

The toll of dead and wounded was horrendous.  Probably about two million military personnel were killed (around 400,000 of them Chinese) and some two and half million civilians were killed or injured.

Both sides committed terrible atrocities. The US commander General MacArthur urged the use of nuclear weapons (but was overruled by President Truman) and the Americans probably used germ warfare.

When the war began, living standards in North Korea were higher than those in South Korea. Today North Koreans are literally starving, while South Korea is a developed country. But North Korea still lays claim to the South, it recently sank a South Korean boat,  and it may be developing a nuclear bomb.

You can read more detail about the Korean War here.


One Comment

  • Dan Filson

    “When the war began, living standards in North Korea were higher than those in South Korea”
    Arguable – evidence?

 




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