Triumph & Tragedy
Shalini
Pammal
The Korean War began in 1950 when North Korea, backed by the Communist regimes of the Soviet Union and China, invaded the South across the 38th parallel. It was one of the bloodiest wars ever fought and ended in the signing of a cease-fire armistice in July 1953, leaving in its wake four million military and civilian casualties, including 33,600 American, 16,000 UN allied, 415,000 South Korean and 520,000 North Korean dead. (Korean Enigma) The armistice, however, was not a peace treaty. The effects of the Korean War and the resulting armistice continues to impact our world today due to the development of nuclear weaponry by North Koreans, and the struggle for reunification between the two Koreas. The triumphant peace negotiations did bring a successful cease-fire to the countries; but failed compromises and irreconcilable differences, however, have made reunification a hopeless prospect between North and South Korea.
Background Music: Billy the Kid- Gun Battle, Grand Canyon Suite