When was the Korean War, which countries were involved and will the North and South commit to denuclearisation?
THE Korean War lasted for three years but its impact on the region continues to be felt.
Here, we look at the reasons that led up to the Korean War, whether another war could break out and if we could see peace between the two countries in our time.
What happened in the Korea War?
The roots of this conflict can be traced back to before the Second World War.
Korea had been occupied by the Japanese empire since 1895 and was left in a state of limbo when Japan was defeated in the Second World War.
The Asian country was eventually split in two – with the Soviets occupying the north of the “38th parallel north” – a line of latitude on maps – and the south controlled by a US military administration.
In the North, a Stalinist regime was installed under client Il-sung – the grandfather of Kim Jong-un – and a powerful North Korean People’s Army was created which was equipped with Russian tanks and artillery, reports the .
Following years of increasingly bloody incidents on the border, the Republic of Korea was invaded by its neighbours on June 25, 1950.
North Koreans advanced through the country rapidly, even after American troops were drafted in from bases in Japan, and the war seemed all but over.
Then in September General MacArthur landed two divisions in the enemy’s rear and North Korea was forced to flee amid heavy aerial bombardment.
The United Nations looked on the verge of victory but the tide was turned again when China entered the war.
The Chinese sent 200,000 troops to North Korea in October 1950 and forced the UN forces to withdraw back to the 38th parallel after decisively winning the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River.
The last two years became a war of attrition on the ground, but a fierce battle raged in the skies above Korea.
When was the Korea war?
The Korean War started in 1950 and lasted for three years.
It’s estimated a total of 2.5 million civilians died in the war.
The fighting officially ended in 1953 when an armistice was signed and a demilitarised zone created to separate the north and south.
However no peace has never been signed between the two countries.
Technically, the two sides of Korea are still at war.
They are separated by a 160-mile long demilitarised zone which has been the scene of numerous clashes and skirmishes.
Who was in the Korea War?
This war pitted North Korea and China which were backed with arms by the Soviet Union against South Korea and the UN.
The UN force included 21 different countries, with just under 600,000 troops from South Korea and half that number from the USA.
The UK contributed the third highest number of troops with 14,198 personnel.
Could there be another war?
Many military experts believe the prospect of a war is unlikely but tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul have remained extremely high for decades, and never more so than in recent years.
Despot Kim Jong-un has been determined to bolster his country’s military muscle and has repeatedly provoked the US and his neighbours in the south with missile launches.
Defying UN Security Council resolutions, he conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests in 2016 alone.
An enormous 6.3-magnitude artificial quake was triggered – ten times larger than any of its previous attempts.
After South Korea responded with a live-fire simulation defending a potential attack, Kim warned his neighbours that he would “reduce them to ashes”.
Have North and South Korea denuclearised?
There has been an unprecedented diplomatic breakthrough.
On April 27, North and South Korea agreed to the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula.
Kim Jong-un became the first North Korean dictator to cross the border into the South for 65 years.
The two heads of state had “serious, frank” discussions on the topic of denuclearising the peninsula during the first meeting on southern soil in more than six decades.
Kim even quipped about his missile tests saying he wouldn’t disturb the South’s “early morning sleep any more”.
At their first summit in more than a decade, the two sides announced they would seek an agreement to establish “permanent” and “solid” peace on the peninsula.
The declaration included promises to pursue military arms reduction, cease “hostile acts,” turn their fortified border into a “peace zone,” and seek multilateral talks with other countries, such as the United States.
In his first ever press conference in front of the world’s media Kim Jong-un said:“We are one nation we cannot be separated. We share the same blood.
“We are living with each other. We are brothers.”
The Koreas said they hope the parties will be able to declare an official end to the war by the end of this year.
The South Korean government said on April 29 that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had told President Moon Jae-in that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States agreed to formally end the Korean War and promise not to invade his country.
Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country’s only known underground nuclear test site.
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