Korean conflict

The **Korean conflict** is an ongoing conflict  between North Korea and South Korea. It started in 1948.

In 1950, the Korean War began when the North Korean army invaded South Korea in a surprise attack. In 1953, a truce was put in place. No peace treaty was signed.

The United States is supporting South Korea through military aid (as of 2025).

China has a defense treaty (or agreement) with North Korea. That agreement is from 1961.

## Background

In 1912, the empire of Japan invaded the Korean Peninsula. Many decades later after the occupation of Korea, many independent movements rose and suppressed. In 1937, Japan invaded Manchuria of China and two years later World War II happened and the Allies won against the Axis including Japan. After the war ended, the United States and the Soviet Union became superpowers. They established two countries which are North and South Korea today.

The Korean Peninsula was occupied by the empire of Japan in the early 1910s and divided to two in the aftermath of World War II by the United States from the capitalist sides and the Soviet Union from the communist sides. This was one of the most iconic events in the Cold War along the Vietnam War, and post-Cold War timeline.

## Division of Korea

On 9 August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war against the Japanese Empire and entered the Korean Peninsula requested by the United States. Although the declaration of war by the Soviet Union was accepted at Yalta Conference, the US government agreed with the Soviet government that the Soviet aggression should stop at the 38th parallel north, US troops later occupied the south including the city of Seoul. On 24 August, the Red Army entered Beijing, establishing a military government in nothern Korea (now North Korea) at the 38th parallel north. US soldiers landed at the 38th parallel south on 8 September and establishing a US military government later known as South Korea. The US government did not ask and did not get the acceptance by the Korean people about this yet. The division of the Korean Peninsula by the US and Soviets will eventually leading to the Korean War.

### Events

- 2017–2018 North Korea crisis
- April 2018 inter-Korean summit
- 2018 North Korea–United States summit
- September 2018 inter-Korean summit

### Korean War (1950–1953)

On 25 June 1950, North Korea, in a surprise attack, invaded South Korea and took Seoul in only a few days. The North Korean army took nearly South Korea except some like the city of Busan, where the South Korean army retreats. In July 1950, the United Nations army landed on South Korea led by the United States began pushing back North Korean army, the counterattack was so strong it pushed North Korea back to the Chinese border. China felt that it was in danger so it sent hundreds of thousands of troops in North Korea along with Soviet aid and told both UN and South Korea that they should return the border and shouldn't invade North Korea. The United Nations ignored China's warning led by US general Douglas MacArthur in October 1950 so the Chinese People's Liberation Army landed in and fought the UN forces and pushed them back to the orginial 38th parallel. The war continued until 27 July 1953 when North Korea, China, the United Nations (led by the US) signed an armstice. A peace treaty was never signed, so technically the war never ended.

## U.S. support of South Korea

The United States has been an ally of South Korea since the establishment of the Republic of Korea. In the Korean War, the US sent millions of troops along with other UN soldiers against communist North Korea. Today, the US remains as the strongest and the most reliable ally of South Korea.

## Soviet Union support of North Korea

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union has supported and aided North Korea many essential stuff including military aid and economic resources. Although the Soviet Union has never sent troops to North Korea against South Korea and the UN, the Soviet Union supported North Korea in air defense and gave military resources to China and North Korea. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, North Korea's economic system was in a crisis. Leading to the worst famine in North Korean history.

## Other information

In 1997, US President Bill Clinton described the division as "the last division of the Cold War".

In 2002, President George W. Bush added North Korea in the axis of evil alongside Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

North Korea has nuclear warheads. South Korea does not have nuclear weapons.

Until now, North Korea and South Korea have shown hostile to each other.

The United States remains as an ally of South Korea and China as an ally of North Korea after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

## Related pages

- India–Pakistan relations
- Vietnam War
- Sino-Vietnamese War
- Cambodian–Vietnamese War
- History of Korea
- East Germany and West Germany

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Korean conflict
- **partof**: Cold War <small>(until 1991)</small>, North Korea–South Korea relations
- **image**: File:Joint Security Area, Korean DMZ, looking south.jpg
- **caption**: Korean Demilitarized Zone.
- **date**: 9 September 1948 – present

()
- **place**: Korean Peninsula
- **territory**: The Korean Peninsula got divided by the United States and the Soviet Union after Empire of Japan, Japanese defeat
* North Korea and South Korea got independent at the 38th parallel in 1948
* Establishment of the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 1953
- **status**: Ongoing
* The Korean War occured from 1950 to 1953
* North Korea began its nuclear program and tested its nuclear bombs successfully
* Panmunjom Declaration signed in 2018
* US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed the Joint Statement at the 2018 Singapore Summit
- **combatant1**: ***'

**Supported by:**

- **combatant2**: ***'

**Supported by:**

- **commander1**: **Yoon Suk-yeol**
<small>(2022–)</small>

**Donald Trump**
(2017–2021; 2025–)
- **commander2**: **Kim Jong-un**
<small>(2011–)</small>

**Xi Jinping**
(2012–)
 **Vladimir Putin**
(2000–08; 2012–)