The Korean war, June 1950 - July
1953, was initially between North and South Korea.
During this period, which was just a few years after the
Second World War, the two giant ideological blocks, led by
the Americans on the one hand, and the Soviets on the other
- both of whom had formerly been in alliance to fight against
fascism - sought to expand or consolidate their respective
zones of influence.
And so the conflict turned into an international
war
The Korean territory thus became the arena for east/west confrontations
- communism versus the free world.
Le mal. Juin et le col. Germiny
dans les lignes du bataillon français
Photo ECPAD
The
Chronology of the war
The armed conflict began with
an invasion of South Korea by North Korea, on June 25, 1950.
This was vehemently condemned by the UN, who equally lunched
an appeal to which the United States responded immediately.
Till date, the Americans are still much present in the region,
with their occupation forces stationed in Japan.
Under the auspices of the UN, American troops, with backed
up by British, French, Belgian, Turkish and Dutch military
detachments, thus came in to assist the South Korean army.
In January 1951, the North Korean army was pushed back.
But with the entry of Chinese troops from the Manchu border
into the scene, the war took a rather ideological dimension.
UN forces, initially overwhelmed, managed, not without
heavy sacrifices, to maintain the front line along the 38th
parallel, a situation not different from what it had been
before.
Policies were changed often: Truman, then US president,
afraid the conflict would drag on with the advent of China,
abandoned the offensive strategy advocated by General Mac
Arthur and opted for a rather defensive one.
Negotiations, which had begun in 1951, picked up again
in 1952 in Panmunjom.
In addition to talks between Pyongyang and Seoul, the respective
capitals of North and South Korea, the world was effectively
split into two spheres of influence between the two east/west
ideological blocks, which resulted from the Second World
War.
Finally, on July 27, 1953, an armistice was signed, with the
recognition of the existence of the two Koreas, by the United
States and the Soviet Union, the two world super powers.