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Korean War

Korean War
The Korean War was the first war in which the United Nations played a major role. It was also part of the cold war between the US and Soviet Union. One of the deadliest war in history, it took many lives in such a short time of three years.
In WW II, Japan had gained control in Korea. At the end, when Japan was defeated by the Allies, the US and Soviet forces moved in Korea. Korea was divided to serve as the purpose to move the Japanese troops out. The line, which was at the 38th parallel divided the country in half. The Soviet forces were responsible for the north and the US for the south part of Korea. Later, this partition was made permanent. In 1947, the UN declared for elections to be held in all of Korea to decide one government for the country. However, North Korea refused to take part in the elections and didn't allow it. So on May 10, 1948, South Korea voted for a national assembly that set up the Republic of Korea. On September 9, North Korea set up the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North and South Korea claimed the whole country and their troops fought several times between 1948-1950. The US removed its troops from South Korea in 1949. It also said that Korea was outside of US defense line. North Korea saw it's chance for military action to take over South Korea.
In June 1950, North Korea surprised South Korea with an attack. At the time, the North Korean Army had 135,000 soldiers, most of them veterans of WW II. It also had airplanes, tanks, and artillery that outnumbered South Korea by three to one. On the other hand, South Korea had 65,000 combat troops who had small arms and light artillery. On the day the war began, the UN Security Council issued a resolution demanding the Communist retreat back to the 38th parallel. The Soviet Union was a permanent member of the Security Council. However, it didn't go to the meeting because it had been boycotting the Council meetings. This was because the Council was denying...