Military Demarcation Line Armistice Agreement. Locals and foreigners will be allowed to cross the line at the Joint Security Area once this area is cleared. The DMZ runs near the 38th parallel, covering roughly . American and South Korean soldiers patrol this line along the South Korean side while North Korean soldiers patrol along the North Korean side. In Korean, the line is called the "Hyujeonseon" (휴전선), meaning "armistice line." It is also sometimes called the "Gunsa Bungye-seon" (군사분계선), which literally means "military demarcation line." However, in colloquial usage, the dividing line is more often called the "Sampalseon" (삼팔선, "38th parallel"), a name
Soviet Union in the Korean War the precarious relations between both sides, while also offering possible advantages. As American and UN soldiers were already deployed in the war on the South Korean side, it was virtually assured that Soviet forces could not engage in open and direct hostilities against the South without provoking conflicts with other UN countries. Instead, the Soviet Union was compelled to conceal its participation in the conflict (at least to the extent where Soviet involvement could still be plausibly denied by the Soviet government) so as to minimize the risk of escalating the "Cold War" into a "Hot War" with NATO and