Hong Kong (CNN)Is the Korean War about to come to an end?
Some people might answer: “Didn’t that happen in 1953?”
Others may know that it was only an armistice that brought hostilities to a halt in 1953 — but there’s never been a treaty to end the conflict between North Korea (and its chief ally China) and South Korea and its allies, most notably the United States.
With the top South Korean diplomat on Wednesday saying Seoul and Washington have “effectively” agreed on a draft agreement to end the war, here’s a primer on what that means.
What was the Korean War?
The war broke out on June 25, 1950, when the first of what the US military estimated as 135,000 North Korean forces stormed across the 38th parallel dividing North and South Korea in an effort to take total control of the Korean Peninsula.
The United States, under President Harry Truman, responded with what was called a “police action,” assembling a group of international allies under the auspices of the “United Nations Command” to come to the aid of South Korea. Twenty-two nations contributed combat troops or medical support units to the US-led effort.
Communist-controlled North Korea had the support of both the Soviet Union and China, with Beijing actively intervening on the military front in October 1950, sending almost a quarter-million troops into the Korean Peninsula as the US-led forces were advancing toward China’s border with North Korea.
Chinese support of the North pushed the UN advance back down the peninsula and by 1951 stalemate emerged along the 38th parallel, where the border between the two Koreas sits today.
How did the fighting stop?
Armistice talks began in 1951 and occurred intermittently until a final agreement to end combat was made at Panmunjom on the 38th parallel on July 27, 1953. Within three days, both sides withdrew their troops to be at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the cease-fire line.
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