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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Korean War
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(1950–3)
Conflict which was a direct aftermath of *World War II. Korea, an ancient country on a peninsula suspended from northern China, was forcibly annexed by Japan in 1910. In 1945 the USSR received the surrender of Japanese troops in Korea north of the 38th parallel, while the USA did so south of that line – a state of affairs which soon led to ideologically opposed governments in the north and south. In 1950 a North Korean army invaded the south. In response to this aggression the Security Council of the United Nations sent out a multinational force to push back the invaders; about half the army was from the USA, the rest coming mainly from Australia, Britain, Canada and Turkey.
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By November 1950 the UN force had pressed forward to Korea's northern border with China, provoking a massive response from a Chinese Communist army. Early in 1951 the UN forces were pushed south again to below the 38th parallel, and by that summer a military stalemate was established close to that line. Fighting continued for two more years between virtually fixed positions in the hills. The armistice of July 1953 left two bitterly opposed countries, North and South Korea, with a heavily defended border along the 38th parallel.
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