Australia in the Korean War weeks later by the American forces who entered through Incheon. US Army Lieutenant General John R. Hodge formally accepted the surrender of Japanese forces south of the 38th Parallel on 9 September 1945 at the Government House in Seoul. Although both rival factions tried initially to diplomatically reunite the divided nation, it was the Northern faction that eventually decided to try and do so with military force. Troops from the Soviet backed North Korean Army crossed the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950 beginning a civil war. The invasion of South Korea came as a surprise to the United Nations.
Impact of the Korean War on the economy of the United States tensions with the Soviet Union, the Korean War further increased it. The Korean War cost the US$30 billion in 1953, which is equivalent to US$341 billion in 2011. During the last year of the war, annual war expenditure comprised about 14.1 percent of GDP. Approximately 34,000 Americans were killed in battle and about another 2,800 died from disease or injury, with total US casualties, which includes dead, wounded, and missing in action, adding up to 139,860. The "Korean War GI Bill" was implemented in 1952, eventually covering veterans between June 27, 1950 and February 1, 1955. It offered the same