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Korean War Prior to WWII, the nation of Korea was controlled by Imperial Japan. Following WWII, Korea was split north and south at the 38 degrees latitude line. This became known as the 38th parallel. South Korea was occupied by the United States and North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union. Both would eventually leave, but not before setting up governments that were just like their own (capitalism and communism). In June of 1950, North Korean forces swept down into South Korea. They started a war to unite Korea under a communist government. The United States viewed this as communism threatening the freedom of another country and joined in. Eventually 19 other nations entered the war under the United Nations. Although they began the war alone, North Korea eventually had the economic support of the Soviet Union and the military support of over 300,000 Chinese soldiers. North Korea’s leader Kim Il Sung believed many South Koreans would support him in his attempt to overthrow South Korea’s corrupt president, Syngman Rhee. Although support for South Korea came as a United Nations effort, it was the United States that took on most of the fighting. The North Koreans experienced initial success and pushed American and South Korean forces almost off of the peninsula. However, American and South Korean forces, led by General Douglas MacArthur, turned the tide against the North Koreans, pushing them back into North Korea. President Truman wanted to push the communists out of North Korea, and ordered American forces across the 38th parallel. China responded to the invasion of North Korea by sending hundreds of thousands of troops to support their communist ally. Although Gen. MacArthur wanted to attack China directly, President Truman stopped him because he did not want to risk war with the Soviet Union(China’s ally). Gen. MacArthur The argument over MacArthur’s belief that the US should directly attack China on its home territory and Truman’s denial of that plan ultimately led to MacArthur’s dismissal as General of United Nations (UN) forces. After a few see-saw battles, both sides agreed to leave the border between North and South Korea where it was prior to the first invasion of South Korea in 1950. The fighting ended in 1953 under then President Dwight Eisenhower, a promise he made while running for that office. As proof of overwhelming American forces in comparison to other UN forces, the Americans suffered 140,000 casualties. All other UN forces suffered a total of 16,000 casualties. The Korean War played an important role in the Cold War as it was an example of America’s attempt to stop the spread of communism by enforcing the Containment Policy. America would continue to try to contain communism in areas like Vietnam, Cuba, and Germany. It also showed that the United States was not ready to risk an all-out war with the Soviets or Chinese.