More than 1.6 million North Koreans and Chinese were killed or wounded and 3 million South Koreans died of war-related causes. Korean and civilian casualties were heavier still. Total UN casualties included 118,515 killed, 264,591 wounded, and 92,987 captured, most of who did not return alive.

The war took the lives of 54,000 and wounded more than 100,000 Americans. In July 1953, the two sides reached an armistice that left Korea divided as it had been three years earlier. More importantly, the conflict had a high cost in lives and materials. The controversy cost Harry Truman his popularity and the Democratic Party the U.S. Talks went on amid a great deal of controversy in the United States about whether the United States should push to eliminate the Communist threat in Korea and Asia or settle on containment of the Communist вЂњthreatвЂќ to its previous borders. The peace negotiations began in July 1951 and were not concluded until July 1953. Three months later the UN troops advanced again to the 38th parallel, and President Truman decided to negotiate a peace. In November, UN troops were within forty miles of the Korean-Chinese border, but one hundred fifty thousand Chinese troops came across the border over the Yalu River and drove UN troops south of the 38th parallel and recaptured Seoul. In September, UN troops led by General Douglas McArthur advanced toward the 38th parallel from both North and South Korea and liberated Seoul. From June to September, North Korean troops punished United Nations troops and advanced south to Pusan, South Korea. The вЂњpolice actionвЂќ seesawed from one side to the other. At first he said that it was simply the United States, as a member of the United Nations, вЂњgoing to the relief of the Korean Republic to suppress a bandit raid.вЂќ When pressed by a reporter, he agreed that it was a вЂњpolice action under the United Nations,вЂќ and вЂњpolice actionвЂќ became the official label for the war. The United States deployed almost 1.8 million troops in Korea and essentially dictated military strategy. Sixteen nations, including many of the NATO allies, sent troops to Korea, but the United States contributed most of the personnel and weapons. However, on June 30, 1950, Truman decided to commit ground troops in Korea. Thirty years later, former Soviet leaders indicated that the Kremlin had simply acquiesced to North Korean plans. President Harry TrumanвЂ™s advisers felt that the communist governments of Russia or China or both had instigated the attack. This concern intensified into an anti-Communist hysteria (Roark 1998, 1048) in June 1950 when ninety thousand North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. In the post-World War II forties and fifties there was great national concern over the spread of communism. The USSR supported a communist government in North Korea, and the United States successfully supported the installation of a democratic government in South Korea. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel by the United States and the Soviet Union.

Korean war hospital