The main conflict of the Korean War was a military confrontation between North Korea, supported by China and the Soviet Union, and South Korea, backed by a United Nations coalition led by the United States. The war began on June 25, 1950, when North Korean forces invaded South Korea, seeking to unify the peninsula under communist rule.
The war resulted in a three-year-long struggle that ended in an armistice rather than a formal peace treaty. The armistice, signed on July 27, 1953, established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as a buffer between North and South Korea. The conflict essentially maintained the pre-war division of the Korean Peninsula at the 38th parallel.
The Korean War resulted in significant casualties and destruction. Estimates vary, but it is believed that millions of people were killed or injured during the conflict, including both military personnel and civilians. The war also had a profound impact on the political and social dynamics of the Korean Peninsula and the broader Cold War context.
Overall, the main result of the Korean War was the preservation of the status quo, with North Korea remaining a communist state and South Korea a capitalist democracy. The war also solidified the geopolitical division of Korea, with the DMZ acting as a heavily fortified border that continues to separate the two countries to this day.