Korean War

In total, the Korean War (1950-53) involved 30 nations: United Nations Allied (27)—Republic of Korea, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Suriname, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom (including Scotland, Ireland, Wales), United States; Naval Support: Japan; Medical: Denmark, Italy, Norway, India, Sweden; Communist Forces (3)—Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, People’s Republic of China, Soviet Union.

An estimated 1.8 million Americans served in the Korean War, including 600,000 African Americans, 25,000 Japanese Americans, 20,000 Chinese Americans, and 148,000 Hispanic Americans. The U.S. suffered 54,246 casualties and 8,176 POW/MIAs.

The Korean War claimed lives of more than 2.5 million Koreans and separated more than 10 million Korean families, including 100,000 Korean Americans who have yet to meet their families in the North.

The 3-mile wide buffer zone between South and North Korea, known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone or the DMZ, is the most heavily armed border in the world. Today the two Koreas remain divided and are technically still at war.

Photo taken by Hannah Y. Kim — on the wall of the Ethiopian Korean War Museum in Addis Ababa.
Photo taken by Hannah Y. Kim — a page from a book on Italy’s participation in the Korean War, shown by the last remaining italian Korean War veteran in Pietra Ligure.