For other conflicts and wars involving Korea, see. For the conflict from WWII to the present, see. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. Both governments claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of , and neither accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—moved into the south on 25 June 1950. The authorized the formation and dispatch of UN forces to Korea to repel what was recognized as a North Korean invasion. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing around 90% of the military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean and U. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at , and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were forced back north. UN forces rapidly approached the —the border with China—but in October 1950, mass Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. The surprise Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951. In these reversals of fortune, changed hands four times, and the last two years of fighting became a , with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an was signed. The agreement created the to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no was ever signed, and according to some sources the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a. In April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the demilitarized zone and agreed to sign a treaty by the end of the year to formally end the Korean War. It also led to the permanent alteration of the balance of power within the United Nations, where —passed in 1950 to allow a bypassing of the Security Council if that body could not reach an agreement—led to the General Assembly displacing the Security Council as the primary organ of the UN. Main article: Imperial Japan destroyed the influence of over Korea in the 1894—95 , ushering in the short-lived. A decade later, after defeating in the 1904—05 , Japan made Korea its with the in 1905, then annexed it with the in 1910. Many fled the country. A was founded in 1919 in. It failed to achieve international recognition, failed to unite nationalist groups, and had a fractious relationship with its U. From 1919 to 1925 and beyond, Korean led internal and external warfare against the Japanese. In China, the Nationalist and the communist helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese military, which had also occupied parts of China. The Nationalist-backed Koreans, led by , fought in the December 1941 — August 1945. The communists, led by among others, fought the Japanese in Korea and Manchuria. Soviet—Japanese War 1945 Main article: At the in November 1943 and the in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its in the within three months of the. Accordingly, it declared war on Japan on 9 August 1945, three days after the USA dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. By 10 August, the had begun to occupy the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. On the night of 10 August in Washington, U. This was incorporated into the U. As Rusk's comments indicate, the U. Stalin, however, maintained his wartime policy of co-operation, and on 16 August the Red Army halted at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of U. Korea divided 1945—1949 See also: On 8 September 1945, U. Lieutenant General arrived in to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel. Appointed as military governor, Hodge directly controlled South Korea as head of the USAMGIK 1945—48. He attempted to establish control by restoring Japanese colonial administrators to power, but in the face of Korean protests quickly reversed this decision. The USAMGIK refused to recognize the provisional government of the short-lived PRK due to its suspected Communist sympathies. In December 1945, Korea was administered by a U. The idea was not popular among Koreans and riots broke out. To contain them, the USAMGIK banned strikes on 8 December 1945 and outlawed the PRK Revolutionary Government and the PRK People's Committees on 12 December 1945. Following further large-scale civilian unrest, the USAMGIK declared. Citing the inability of the Joint Commission to make progress, the U. The Soviet authorities and the Korean Communists refused to co-operate on the grounds it would not be fair, and many South Korean politicians boycotted it. A was held in the South on 10 May 1948. North Korea held three months later on 25 August. The resultant South Korean government promulgated a national political constitution on 17 July 1948, and elected as president on 20 July 1948. The Republic of Korea South Korea was established on 15 August 1948. In the Soviet Korean Zone of Occupation, the Soviet Union established a communist government led by Kim Il-sung. The Soviet Union withdrew as agreed from Korea in 1948, and U. Chinese Civil War 1945—1949 Main article: With the end of the , the Chinese Civil War resumed in earnest between the Communists and Nationalists. While the Communists were struggling for supremacy in , they were supported by the North Korean government with and manpower. According to Chinese sources, the North Koreans donated 2,000 railway cars worth of supplies while thousands of Koreans served in the Chinese PLA during the war. North Korea also provided the Chinese Communists in Manchuria with a safe refuge for non-combatants and communications with the rest of China. The North Korean contributions to the Chinese Communist victory were not forgotten after the creation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. As a token of gratitude, between 50,000 and 70,000 Korean veterans that served in the PLA were sent back along with their weapons, and they later played a significant role in the initial invasion of South Korea. China promised to support the North Koreans in the event of a war against South Korea. After the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese government named the Western nations, led by the United States, as the biggest threat to its national security. Basing this judgment on China's beginning in the early 19th century, U. As a countermeasure and to elevate Ch
