South Korea - North Korea Conflict and Peace Treaty - Seeker's Thoughts

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South Korea - North Korea Conflict and Peace Treaty

Introduction:  Korea conflicts

From 1910 to 1945, Korea was under the control of the Japanese empire after a long integration process that began with the Japan- Korea treaty of 1876. 

After the events of the world war II, however, Japan’s imperial possession was forfeited. The united states and USSR had to decide what to do with Korea, and they eventually opted to split the peninsula Korea rested along with the 38th parallel. 

The Soviet Union would handle the north, and the United States would take of the Southern part of Korea. By the end of the 1940s, that the threat of communism was in rising and the cold war was in full swing. That of course, brought tension to the newly formed Korean states bordered each other.

Syngman Rhee, an anti-communist dictator in the south, and Kim II-sung, a communist dictator in the north—who both claimed to be the legitimate governing power of all of Korea—fought along the 38th parallel with support from their allies: the United States and the USSR, respectively. Before the Korean war even formally started, nearly 10,000 soldiers were killed. 

Soon, the first “hot war” of the cold war showed its ugly face, and the united states would believe it had no choice but to demonstrate its commitment to the concept of “containment” or the attempt to keep communism from spreading.

Read about India and Singapore relationship

The war begins
Korean- the conflict between the democratic people’s republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in which at least 2.5 million people died.
The war reached international proportions in 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union (Russia) invaded South Korea. 

The united nations with the United States as the principal participant joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the china came to North Korea’s aid. 

American troops were on the ground in South Korea and engaging in the brutal defensive fight. They tried to push the North Koreans back up in the peninsula, but South Korea and their allies seemed to hit snag after snag.

The North Korean army made southern forces fled instead of fighting, and American soldiers were slowly dying from thirst and dangerous intestinal diseases After more than a million combat casualties had been suffered on both sides, the fighting ended in 1953 with Korea still divided into two hostile states.


After the successful Inchon counter-offensive (Battle of Inchon) in September of 1950, many North Korean troops were either cut off from their allies or pushed back north. This victory came with a surprise of its own, however.

 As UN forces approached the border of China, Chinese leader Mao Zedong sent troops to intervene. They crossed the border and forced the UN forces to retreat, warning the United States that coming too close to the border would trigger a full- scale war with China. President Truman, hoping to prevent world war III, fired an overly aggressive general Douglas MacArthur, who wanted to fight the Chinese. 

He was let go of insubordination on April 11, 1951.
By July of 1951, the north and south Korea began peach talks at Panmunjom, a village that resisted almost exactly on the 38th parallel. Over the next years, negotiations stalled, fighting continued along the new frontline on the 38th parallel, bombing campaigns ensued, jet fighters engaged in air to air combat for the first time in history and still, neither party could come to an agreement.

Signed Armistice
On July 27, in 1953, both sides signed an armistice. A new boundary was drawn just north of the 38th parallel and a two-mile-wide demilitarized zone between the two states was created. Despite the longstanding ceasefire, no official peace treaty was ever signed and continues till today.
By the  time armistice was signed, nearly 5 million people had died: 2 million Korean civilians; 1.5 million communist forces; 400,000 South Korean soldiers; 40,000 U.S troops plus millions were wounded.

Hope for present and future
The leaders of North and South Korea met and agreed to sign a formal peace treaty by the end of the year. 😊 The Korean war could be finally over by 2019. Both countries leader crossed the demilitarized zone in South Korea to have a talk with each other. In an unprecedented summit in Panmunjom they even hugged and greet each other.

North Korea agreed to work toward complete denuclearization if the U.S and south Korea agreed to an official peace treaty.

As to what made this all come together, America played an important role in initiating talks. It seems the pressure the of America has been putting on North Korea with the international sanction and threats of military action helped open a dialogue between the Korean governments.

Both parties will hopefully, follow through this time. This is not the first-time similar pledges have been made, the past agreement has fallen through due to North Korean missile test—but this they have finally aligned

1- India strongly supported UN resolution and military operations against north Korea during the Korean war.
2-     India and north Korea have growing trade and diplomatic relations. India maintains an embassy in Pyongyang, and north Korea has an embassy in new Delhi.
3-     India is one of North Korea’s biggest trade partners and major food aid provider.
4-     India was one of the few institutes in the world that provided technical training for the north Korea students after the UN issues its first set of sanctions against north Korea’s nuclear program in 2006.


1-      South Korea became an official development assistance contributor to India and cemented its status as one of India’s most important economic partner outside G7.
2-     India signed an MOU with South Korea to cooperate on shipbuilding for military use. South Korea has also agreed to manufacturer self- propelled artillery guns for the Indian army


 The peace treaty is a positive outcome after so many years of hatred and coldness between both countries. Millions of soldiers and civilian shed their blood. The treaty is an inspiration for other countries too. Other countries should learn to promote humanity and peace. India has been stayed very neutral with both countries. India should think to start more trade with both of the countries without favoring any country.     
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