1950 in South Korea 25 June 1950 in the whole of Korea. The Korean War happened because the North Korean forces surprised the South Korean army and the small U.S. force stationed in the country, and quickly headed toward the capital of South Korea. The trigger for the war was when, in 1950, Syngman Rhee, who was the South Korean president those days, boasted that he was going to attack North Korea. It was a good enough excuse, so the North Koreans invaded South Korea. This started the actual fighting. On 26 June 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman directs General Douglas MacArthur to
South Korea the largest contributor of UN troops. The United States participation was critical for preventing the near defeat of the Republic of Korea by northern forces, as well as fighting back for the territory gains that define the South Korean nation today. Following the Armistice, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to a "Mutual Defense Treaty", under which an attack on either party in the Pacific area would summon a response from both. In 1967, South Korea obliged the mutual defense treaty, by sending a large combat troop contingent to support the United States in the Vietnam War. The US has