Background
Korea attained independence in August 1945 as Japan unconditionally surrendered from the Allied Force's atomic attack. However, due to the ideology conflict between the World Powers of the United States of America and the Soviet Union, post-war occupation of the Korean peninsula the South and North was divided by the 38th Parallel, with Soviet forces in the North and U.S. forces in the South.
Four subsequent conferences could not decide the unification issue, with the consequences of making Korea a divided country. From this point, the partition of the Korean peninsula was further divided as two different governments were established on each side; the Republic of Korea in the South and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the North.
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| Trusteeship on Korean Peninsula | South Korea Government Formed | North Korea Government Formed |
Procedure
On June 25th, 1950, with the intent of Communization, North Korea's ruler Kim Il-sung invaded the South equipped with his newest weapons with assistance from the Soviet Union. After the outbreak of the war, the North occupied Seoul in only 3 days. Within one month, they drew close to the South's last line of defense at the Nakdong River near Busan.
By the success of the U.N. Force's Incheon Landing Operation, the South regained Seoul, Wonsan, and the North's capital of Pyeongyang. They were close to bringing about unification, but due to intervention from the Chinese Forces, the war became prolonged. In efforts from both sides to occupy the 38th Parallel, an armistice issue was mentioned by the United States of America and the United Nations. On July 1951, the first conference was held in Gaeseong.
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| 38th Parallel | Inspection of North Korea Militaries | Southward Invasion |
The UN proposed a change of location for the conference since Gaeseong was located above the 38th Parallel. The Soviet Union accepted the proposal, and on October 1951, the conference meetings were moved to Panmunjeom.
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| Incheon Landing Operation | Communist Chinese Forces Intervention | First Day of Armistice Meetings |
