On This Day

Korean War Ends

After three years of a bloody and frustrating war, the agree to an armistice was reached, bringing the Korean War to an end.

The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when communist North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, came to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union also gave some assistance to the North.

After the first year of intense fighting the remainder of the Korean War became a stalemate in which there was little exchanged territory. President Eisenhower began to publicly hint that the United States might make use of its nuclear arsenal to break the military stalemate in Korea.

Whether or not Eisenhower’s threats of nuclear attacks helped, by July 1953 all sides involved in the conflict were ready to sign an agreement ending the bloodshed. The armistice, signed on July 27 created a new border between North and South Korea was drawn, which gave South Korea some additional territory and demilitarized the zone between the two nations. The war cost the lives of millions of Koreans and Chinese, as well as over 50,000 Americans.