Post-Korean War

Armistice

On July 27, 1953, the US, China and North Korea signed the Korean Armistice Agreement which formally marked the end of hostilities in the Korean peninsula regarding the Korean War. Although they accepted the conditions, South Korea was not a signatory of this armistice, because then-President Rhee Syngman could not accept that he failed to reunite the Koreas by force.

Since the signing of the armistice, multiple attempts at a formal peace treaty have occurred, but none have been successful. This is mainly due to the issue of prisoners of war (POWs) on both ends. Both sides demanded for their people back but this was not as easy as it had seemed. Many UN detainees refused to return back to their homeland, whether it be North Korea or China, making it much more difficult for the north and the south to exchange POWs. After some time, North Korea and China had finally agreed to let their exchanged POWs decide whether they would return back to their homeland or stay with the UN to be relocated and resettled elsewhere. This issue is still ongoing, as each side claims that the other still has POWs that were brainwashed and integrated into the respective societies.

Cold War

Although the Korean War is an event often forgotten in the US, the Korean War played a major role in the outcome of the Cold War.

To begin, the Korean War was the first limited proxy war that two superpowers fought in a different country, in this case being Korea. It proved the determination of the communists and capitalists to maintain and spread their own ideals to other countries to obtain their goals. Future wars include the Vietnam War and the Soviet War in Afghanistan.

Additionally, this was the first war the United Nations had participated in outside of the Western World. Only 5 years since its formation, the UN demonstrated its extreme power in the world and that they are crucial in maintaining world peace.

One overlooked factor was the effect of the outcome of the war itself on the US. Soldiers and civilians alike were already accustomed to their enemies surrendering to their conditions as seen in the two World Wars. However, without a definitive victor for the Korean War, many were left confused and upset that the efforts meant nothing.

Physical Effect on Korea

Fought on all of the Korean peninsula, the introduction of foreign forces proved to be detrimental. Economies were destroyed and infrastructure needed to be rebuilt from scratch due to bombings and artillery strikes. Many Korean civilians were caught up in these bombings, mostly from the North, and about 1 million Korean civilians total from both the north and the south died In total, roughly 5 million people lost their lives in the war.

Some Comments:

As mentioned previously, the Korean War ended without a formal peace treaty, meaning that the Koreas are still at war, although the physical fighting has ceased. 70 years since the signing of the armistice, the Koreas have made efforts in trying to reach out to one another on peaceful terms but their many difficult episodes concern Koreans on whether this conflict will ever end. However, one thing remains common between the two countries, and that is their desire to reunite the Korean peninsula.

Sydney P