Japan ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945. After World War II, the Allies divided Korea along the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States occupying the south. In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, launching the Korean War. After early successes by North Korea, UN forces led by General MacArthur launched a surprise invasion at Inchon and drove North Korean forces north. However, China later entered the war on North Korea's side, pushing UN forces back south. An armistice in 1953 ended the fighting along the original border at the 38th parallel, dividing Korea into two opposing sides that remain to this day.

2. KoreaKorea

3. * Japan had ruled Korea from 1910-
1945.
* During World War II, Japanese
troops in Korea surrendered to the
U.S. and the Soviet Union.
* The Allies divided Korea into two
zones at the 38th
parallel.
* North Korea – Pro-communist
Japanese soldiers surrendering to Soviet forces
during World War II.
* South Korea – Non-communist…desired free elections
* In 1949, both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. withdrew from Korea.

5. * Eager to reunite the country, North Korea invaded South Korea on
June 25, 1950.
Soviet-made North Korean tank in Seoul, South Korea
on June 29, 1950. Four days after the invasion.
The well equipped North Korean army fires artillery
rounds on South Korean military positions.

6. “What the Communists, the
North Koreans, were doing
was nothing new… Hitler and
Mussolini and the Japanese
were doing exactly the same
thing in the 1930s… Nobody
had stood up to them. And
that is what led to the
Second World War.”
~President Truman

7. * The UN forces consisted of 16 nations and
520,000 troops.
* 90% were American
* There were 590,000 South Korean troops
* Commanded by U.S. General Douglas
MacArthur
* President Truman ordered Naval and
Air support for South Korea.
* The UN adopted a resolution to help
South Korea.
* With the power to veto, the
U.S.S.R. was not present because
the UN had refused to admit China.

8. * After 2 months of fighting,
the North Koreans had
driven the UN and South
Korean forces into a small
corner of the peninsula
called Pusan.

9. General MacArthur watches
the Inchon Invasion.
* MacArthur launched an amphibious
counter-offensive at Inchon catching the
North off-guard.
* The goal: cutoff supply-lines and
sandwich enemy troops.
* The result: the pressure on Pusan
was relieved.
* North Korean forces were on the run,
and driven North of the 38th
Parallel.

10. U.S. Marines debarking a landing craft during the
invasion of Inchon.

11. “Organized resistance will be
terminated by Thanksgiving.
They are thoroughly
whipped.”
~General MacArthur

12. These U.S. troops reached the Chinese border ,at
Yalu-Jiang, in December 1950 and planted the
American flag in the ice of the frozen Yalu River.

13. * China had warned UN forces that they
must stop at the 38th
Parallel.
* When UN forces pushed the North almost
to the Yalu River, 300,000 Chinese troops
swarmed across the border.
* UN forces were pushed back south of
the 38th
Parallel and Seoul was again in
the hands of communists.
A grieving U.S. soldier is
comforted by a comrade.

14. This Chinese propaganda states: “The Korean
People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer
Army, victorious forever!”

15. * To end the war in Korea and eliminate further Chinese
involvement, he proposed:
1. Blockading China’s coast
2. Using atomic weapons on China
* Afraid of starting World War III, President
Truman rejected the requests.
*Instead of attacking China, U.S. forces
pushed North Korean forces back across
the 38th
Parallel.

16. U.S. infantryman rests on a Chinese Communist
bunker with a Soviet light machine gun.

17. * MacArthur desired total victory
in Korea while Truman desired a
truce.
* MacArthur wrote a letter to the
U.S. House of Representatives
upset about his bosses limited-
war strategy.
* Truman relieved MacArthur of
his command.
President Truman meeting with General MacArthur.

19. * From 1951 to 1953, the fighting continued but very little land was
exchanged.
The Korean war marked the first war that units were desegregated. In this image,
a machinegun crew have a fortified position on the side of a hill.

20. “The first task of a new
Administration will be to
review and re-examine every
course of action open to us
with one goal in view: To
bring the Korean war to an
early and honorable end. This
is my pledge to the American
people.”
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

21. * In 1954, after 2 years of negotiations, the two sides agreed to a
ceasefire.
* The terms:
1.End of fighting
2.Exchange of Prisoners of War
3.A demilitarized zone of 2.4 miles along the 38th
Parallel.

22. * U.S. deaths: 36,516 (including 2,830
non-combat deaths)
* Cost between more than $20 billion
* Increased the fear of communist
aggression.
* Communism was contained without
another world war, and without the
use of an atomic bomb.
* Korea was still divided.
The Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

23. With 1,106,000 military personnel, North
Korea has the fourth largest army in the
world.
Military service of up to 10 years is
mandatory for most males.
As United States Forces Korea,
28,500 U.S. soldiers are on
active duty in Korea.

25. The DMZ is 160 miles long, approximately 2.5 mile wide. It is the most heavily militarized border in the world.
Crossing at the 38th
Parallel, the
DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula
roughly in half.

26. On May 25, 2009, the North Koreans
conducted a nuclear weapons test that was
as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb.