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Dividing Korea
At the end of WWII, Korea is divided into North Korea that the Soviet Union controls, and South Korea that is under the United States control. North Korea becomes Communist while South Korea becomes Capitalist. Korea Is split into Two along the 38th parallel which is a longitude line that runs through Korea and many other countries. The 38th Parallel is considered a DMZ or Demilitarized Zone. The areas north and south of the DMZ are heavily fortified. -
Truman Doctrine
President Harry Truman gives a speech and says that that the U.S. will help any country that is threatened by communism. The speech is called the Truman Doctrine. -
Invasion from the North
On June 25, 1950 the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. The North Koreans push all the way to the capital of Seoul. The South Koreans do not have a strong enough army yo stop them -
Summer of Terror
In June 1949 the South Korean government accused independence activists of being members of the Bodo League. In 1950, just before the outbreak of the Korean War, the first president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, had about 20,000 alleged communists imprisoned.Estimates of the death toll vary. It has been estimated that the number of victims killed is between 100,000 and 200,000. It was called the Summer of terror because anyone could be executed if they were suspected to be communist. -
the US joins
President Harry Truman sends U.S. troops to Korea. The U.S. and other countries in the United Nations join the war because they want to stop communism from spreading to South Korea. -
UN counter attack
General Douglas MacArthur leads an invasion into South Korea at the city of Inchon. From there, the United Nations troops go to Seoul and take it back from North Korea. -
US near the Capital
U.S. troops push their way into Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Soldiers believe that the war will be over soon and start to take bets on what day the war will officially end.A strategy developed by General MacArthur, ordering the UN to move to the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and northeast China. MacArthur said the UN troops would be home by Christmas, but they are attacked by 180,000 Chinese soldiers and have to retreat. -
China Joins the war
Those who escaped envelopment and capture were forced back north. UN forces rapidly approached the Yalu River—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.the war settled into a grinding and frustrating stalemate for the next two-and-a-half years. -
Peace?
Peace talks begin in the beginning of February, peace talks began between the U.N. and North Korea in the village of Panmunjom, just north of the future Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). At the center of the talks would be the question of prisoners-of-war. North Korean delegates leave the peace conference at Kaesong. With neither side gaining ground, peace talks begin. However, it takes two years to come to an agreement as the war drags on. -
Heart Break on the ridge
The Battle of Heartbreak Ridge, also known as the Battle of Wendengli, was a month-long battle in the Korean War.American and French troops start a battle with North Korean and Chinese troops in a part of South Korea known as the Punch bowl. The U.S. and France win the month-long battle. Over 25,000 Chinese and North Korean soldiers die. -
Peace finally
North Korea and South Korea sign an agreement to stop fighting. Korea is still divided, but the two countries agree to create a neutral zone called the Demilitarized Zone to separate the countries.
