THE FORGOTTEN WAR

Sandwiched between the Second World War and the Vietnam War, the conflict in Korea is often overlooked in the West

- Written by Callum McKelvie

The end of the Second World War witnessed the beginning of a new and terrible kind of global conflict. The Cold War pitted the opposing ideologies of the capitalist West, primarily the United States, against the communist Soviet Union. While the development of nuclear weapons caused the two sides to resist direct confrontation, numerous proxy wars were fought as each attempted to influence this volatile new world order.

By 1950, the Korean People’s Army had been established with Kim Il Sung at its head. Advised by the Soviet Union, they invaded the south on 25 June 1950, leading to three years of bloody conflict. A number of United Nations countries (including the US and Britain) sent troops to assist the south.

The signing of the armistice on 27 July 1953 resulted in the division of the Korean Peninsula and the creation of North Korea and South Korea. But the war and its impact on the Korean people remain largely overlooked in Western history. Here, Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman, co-authors of Korea: War Without End, talk to us about the ‘forgotten war’.

What was the situation on the Korean Peninsula immediately after the Second World War?