Slowly, tanks and soldiers were advancing. When they reached the 38th parallel, their foes were hurrying to ready for the battle. Unfortunately, the army did not have time to waste. Screams and gunshots echoed all over the 38th parallel. They did not stop advancing to Seoul despite the foes. It was the start of the Korean War.

"The North Korean army is advancing to Seoul. We must evacuate, Mr. President!" The person who was listening to the phone call panicked. As Syngman Rhee was the president, he knew the actual condition of the South Korean Army. It was far weaker than the North Korean army. Finally, he secretly evacuated from Seoul, leaving the Seoul citizens in danger. On June 25th, 1950, North Korea invaded South Korean Peninsula, placing 242 tanks on their front line.

▲ the explosion of Han River Bridge

North Korea occupied Seoul in just two days. The Korean Peninsula's unification under communism was just a matter of time. The United States, which supports capitalism, decided to help South Korea to prevent it from becoming a communist country. Generally, people think that the United Nations helped South Korea. However, it is no exaggeration to say that only the United States joined the Korean War because other countries sent only a few soldiers.

The UN troops and the South Korean army tried hard to block North Korea, but they were forced to retreat to Nakdong River. To reverse the situation, the alliance planned to filtrate to Incheon through the ocean. It was their last chance.

▲ the alliance filtrating Incheon

The plan was successful, and the situation was reversed. The alliance occupied almost every city of North Korea. However, because of the intervention of China, the alliance failed to unify the Korean Peninsula. After that, both North and South Korea fought for two years at the 38th parallel. There was no winner.

▲ an orphan of Korean War

As a result, over 500,000 South Koreans and 700,000 North Koreans were killed. The number of American casualties was considerably high as well. In addition, the war deepened the conflict between North and South Korea. There were lots of military provocations between the two countries. On June 25th, the commemoration of the first day of the Korean war will be held. We must not forget this catastrophe. Otherwise, the same history will repeat once again.

June 12th, 2021

by Jang Bomin