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Korean War Facts

Korean War Facts
The Korean War was fought between North and South Korea from June 25th, 1950 until July 27th, 1953. China fought for the North while a United Nations force, mainly consisting of United States forces, fought for the South. The Korean War was fought on the Korean Peninsula, the Sea of Japan, and in the Korean Strait. The government in North Korea was a Communist government, while in South Korea a right-wing government rules. Both governments claimed rule over Korea and neither would accept the border that had been established through the Soviet Union and the United States who made an agreement in 1945 when the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. The Soviet Union and China supported North Korea in the invasion of South Korea on June 25th, 1950.
Interesting Korean War Facts:
The border between North Korea and South Korea was established by the Soviet Union and the U.S. as being the 38th parallel.
The ‘Cold War' was a global struggle between communist and democratic government. The Korean War was the first battle of the Cold War.
There were a total of 16 nations of the United Nations that went to war against North Korea under the command of the United States.
Of the 5,720,000 American troops engaged in the Korean War, 33,741 died during battle.
American troops made up approximately 90% of the troops fighting for South Korea.
The remaining troops fighting for South Korea were the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Columbia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey.
At the beginning of the Korean War the North Korean forces moved swiftly into South Korea's capital city of Seoul and captured it.
The United Nation forces were able to push the North Korean forces back across the border into North Korea, but China got involved and helped the North Korean's once again capture Seoul.
The first American casualty of the Korean War was Private Kenneth Shadrick, from West Virginia.
Truce talks began on July 10th, 1951, but it wasn't until July 27th, 1953 that an armistice agreement is reached. North Korea refused to sign it but the combat stopped within 12 hours.
On July 27th, 1953 a demilitarized zone (DMZ) is established on the border between North and South Korea. The DMZ is 2,200 yards from the line on either side and is constantly patrolled.
As a result of the Korean War there were 217,000 military and 1,000,000 South Korean civilians missing or killed.
As a result of the Korean War there were 406,000 military and 600,000 North Korean civilians missing or killed.
As of June 2014 there are still more than 7,500 Americans who fought in the Korean War that are unaccounted for.
Due to the fact that has never been an official peace treaty between North and South Korea, the Korean War has not technically ended.
All in all there were approximately 5 million people killed, wounded or missing as a result of the Korean War. 50% of these were civilians.


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