The Korean War

The Korean War. , World War II divided Korea at the 38th parallel, into a Communist northern half and Democratic southern half. The Korean War began when the North Korean Communist army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded non-Communist South Korea in 1950., The United States intervened as part of a United Nations International Peace-Keeping Force. In November, 1950, thousands of U.S. troops, mostly Marines, struggled to survive the coldest winter in over 100 years at the Chosin reservoir. They faced an overwhelming opposition of more than 120,000 Chinese troops., By late 1952 the United States and U.N. forces were making significant advances, and General Douglas McCarthur planned on pushing into North Korea to end the war. President Harry Truman refused to let McCarthur cross the 38th parallel into North Korea, fearing that it would spark a nuclear war between the United States, China and Russia., Instead, in 1953 a peace treaty was signed at Panmunjom that ended the Korean War, returning Korea to a divided status essentially the same as before the war.