The Korean War began in June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to reunite the Korean peninsula under communist rule. After initial successes, United Nations forces led by the United States pushed North Korea back near the Chinese border. China then entered the war and pushed allied forces back south. An armistice in 1953 established a demilitarized zone near the original border, dividing Korea at the 38th parallel. Over two million soldiers and civilians lost their lives in the three-year conflict, and North and South Korea remain divided and in an uneasy ceasefire to this day.