Korean War

Major military confrontation between the Republic of Korea, the United States, and the United Nations on one side and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the People's Republic of China, and the Soviet Union on the other. The war began on June 25, 1950, when the DPRK sought by force to reunite the Korean nation, which had been divided at the 38th parallel into a Soviet-occupied north and a US-occupied south at the conclusion of World War II. Hostilities continued until an armistice was concluded on July 27,1953. Casualties amounted to approximately 4 million, including 1 million civilians on each side and 900,000 Chinese. Some 50,000 US soldiers died in the conflict. During the war Japan became a staging area and supply depot for the US and received millions of dollars worth of contracts for supplies. (adapted from Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993)