Who Was When
Wars

Korean War

  • China calls it 抗美援朝战争 (War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea; in Chinese usage, the period from the Volunteers' entry in October 1950 to the armistice)
  • North Korea calls it 조국해방전쟁 (Fatherland Liberation War)
  • South Korea calls it 한국전쟁 (Korean War; also called the 6·25 War, after its first day)

See this year on the world timeline

Sides

North Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Soviet Union

North Korea, Chinese People's Volunteer Army, and Soviet Union

against
South Korea and the United Nations Command

South Korea, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, France, New Zealand, Philippines, Türkiye, Thailand, South Africa, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ethiopia, and Colombia

Countries today: China and Russia

What happened

Korea was divided at the 38th parallel in 1945 into Soviet and US occupation zones, and by 1948 had two rival states. On 25 June 1950 North Korea's army attacked across the parallel, took Seoul and drove South Korean and US forces back to a perimeter around Pusan. The UN Security Council called on members to help South Korea, and sixteen countries sent combat troops under a US-led United Nations Command. After a landing at Inchon in September, UN forces pushed north towards the Chinese border. From October the Chinese People's Volunteer Army crossed the Yalu and drove them back, retaking Seoul in January 1951; the Soviet Union supplied arms, and Soviet pilots flew in combat while Moscow denied it. From mid-1951 the front settled near the 38th parallel while armistice talks stalled, chiefly over the return of prisoners. The armistice signed at Panmunjom on 27 July 1953 stopped the fighting and set a demilitarised zone. No peace treaty followed.

Outcome: An armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the fighting on 27 July 1953, with the front line close to the 38th parallel; Korea stayed divided.

Key events

Leaders

  • Kim Il Sung · Leader of North Korea · North Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Soviet Union
  • Peng Dehuai · Commander of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army · North Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Soviet Union
  • Mao Zedong · Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and of the Central People's Government · North Korea, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Soviet Union
  • Syngman Rhee · President of South Korea · South Korea and the United Nations Command
  • Harry S. Truman · US president, to January 1953 · South Korea and the United Nations Command
  • Douglas MacArthur · UN commander, 1950–1951 · South Korea and the United Nations Command
  • Matthew Ridgway · Eighth Army commander, then UN commander, 1951–1952 · South Korea and the United Nations Command
  • Mark W. Clark · UN commander; signed the armistice · South Korea and the United Nations Command

Deaths

Death tolls are estimates and often contested. Each is a range from its sources; a figure one party gives is marked as theirs.

Military deaths · Chinese People's Volunteer Army

Military deaths · US armed forces

Military deaths · South Korean armed forces

Civilian deaths · Korean civilians, North and South

Sources