3.8.Korean War -1950-53
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the Northern Korean People's Army invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack at several strategic points along the 38th parallel.
The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following clashes along the border and rebellions in South Korea. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United States and allied countries. The fighting ended with an armistice on 27 July 1953.
In 1910, Imperial Japan annexed Korea, where it ruled for 35 years until its surrender at the end of World War II on 15 August 1945.
The United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea along the 38th parallel into two zones of occupation.
The Soviets administered the northern zone and the Americans administered the southern zone.
In 1948, as a result of Cold War tensions, the occupation zones became two sovereign states. A socialist state, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, was established in the north under the totalitarian communist leadership of Kim Il-sung while a capitalist state, the Republic of Korea, was established in the south under the authoritarian, autocratic leadership of Syngman Rhee. Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither accepted the border as permanent.
North Korean military (Korean People's Army, KPA) forces crossed the border and drove into South Korea on 25 June 1950. Joseph Stalin had final decision power and several times demanded North Korea postpone the invasion, until he and Mao Zedong both gave their final approval in spring 1950. The United Nations Security Council denounced the North Korean move as an invasion and authorized the formation of the United Nations Command and the dispatch of forces to Korea to repel it
In these and subsequent battles, Seoul was captured four times, and communist forces were pushed back to positions around the 38th parallel, close to where the war had started. After this, the front stabilized, and the last two years were a war of attrition. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive US bombing campaign. Jet-powered fighters confronted each other in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defence of their communist allies.
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953 when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty was ever signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a frozen conflict.
In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the DMZ and agreed to work toward a treaty to formally end the Korean War.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-short-history-of-the-korean-war
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/korean-war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxaegqvl4aE
In September 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear weapons test, its most powerful test to date. As with previous tests in 2016, it again claimed to have developed a hydrogen, or thermonuclear, bomb, which would represent further advancements in the nuclear program and the ability to build more powerful, higher-yield nuclear weapons. In early July 2017, the country conducted its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Three weeks later, it tested another ICBM that experts believe could reach the continental United States. I
In November 2017, North Korea conducted the first test of a previously unseen missile, reportedly its largest ICBM yet, the Hwasong-15. However, North Korea has not yet demonstrated that its nuclear warheads can withstand reentry into Earth’s atmosphere.
In response to the increasing frequency of missile tests, the United States has deployed an anti-missile system in South Korea. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system is located in the Seongju region of South Korea, one hundred and fifty-five miles from the northern border.
The United States, South Korea, and Japan have each passed their own unilateral sanctions against North Korea, targeting companies involved in North Korean missile and nuclear weapons development, high-ranking individuals, and sources of income for the North Korean government. Following the second ICBM, in August 2017 the UN Security Council unanimously passed its harshest sanctions yet on North Korea, targeting some of the most important sources of revenue for the regime including North Korean exports and banning the country from sending more workers abroad. Kim Jong-un’s willingness to provoke the West with aggressive behaviour has exacerbated the threat from North Korea’s weapons proliferation. These incitements have included firing missiles over northern Japanese islands, firing rockets across the South Korean border in August 2015, and a cyberattack on U.S.-based Sony Pictures in December 2014.
Kim has also undertaken efforts to consolidate his power by purging high-ranking officials, including his own family members. In February 2017, Kim's half-brother was killed using a banned nerve agent in an airport in Malaysia. North Korea denies responsibility for the attack. Concerns
North Korea is a nuclear power with a complex relationship with China, and preventing both an interstate Korean war and a North Korean internal collapse are critical U.S. national security interests.Along with continued weapons and missile tests, small-scale military and cyber provocations by North Korea pose significant risks as each incident carries with it the potential for further and potentially uncontrollable escalation. Outright threats from North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un are also cause for concern, as he claims that North Korean weapons can now reach U.S. territories and even the U.S. mainland.
Recent Developments
In early 2018, North and South Korea began a diplomatic rapprochement, and North Korean officials attended the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. On April 27, a week after announcing that North Korea would freeze weapons and missile testing, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un stepped across the border into South Korea for a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The leaders signed a joint statement pledging to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and an official end to war between the two countries.
There has also been a marked change in U.S. policy toward North Korea.
In June 2018, President Donald J. Trump and Kim Jong-un met in Singapore and released a joint statement about denuclearization. The leaders met again in Vietnam in late February 2019, but ended the summit early without making a deal or announcement.
