Korean War

On 25th, June, 1950, well trained army units of the NKPA (North Korean People's Army) which was led by the T-34 tanks a Russian-built, reached the Thirty-eighth Parallel and then they invaded the ROK (Republic of South Korea). The Cold War which had emerged from tension among allies in World War II suddenly heated up. The American response, made in conjunction with the newly organized United Nations, rather forcefully identified Western power determination to resist the expansion of communism. The resulting Korean War enforced President Harry Truman's policy of containment. The Korean Conflict, as it was called for so long, continues, though the disputing nations arrived at an armistice agreement on 27 July 1953. Americans under the United Nation's flag, remain on duty along the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.

This forty-seven year old Korean War, long ignored by scholars and all but forgotten by the American people, is one of the significant events in the twentieth century. Alternatively known as "a police action," the "forgotten war," the "unknown war," the "hidden war," and in one or two cases, the "unnecessary war," the Korean War remains, though it has faded from consciousness. The three-year combat phase produced some of the bloodiest fighting on record, yet it has passed into history. A history so confused and emotional that it took the American people nearly half-a-century to dedicate a monument to those who fought and died there. Other than the 50,000 plus who perished, few American lives were touched by the war, at least not in the immediate sense that the Americans had participated in World War II. There were few price controls, no food shortages, and no gas rationing. Life on the home front changed very little. America's involvement in this Asian war was as hard to explain to the person on the street as it was to the Congressional Committees which investigated it.

Questionnaire:

• Explain more about the Korean War?