On luly 27, 1953, after three years and one month of a undeclared war, the Korean conflict, which killed 33,000 American soldiers, ended in a truce, and the establishment of a demilitarized zone, and an uneasy relationship between the Republic of South Korea and Communist North Korea, a tense atmosphere which has continued, and has come close to the beginning of a new conflict.
35,000 American troops remain in what has become the prosperous, democratic South Korea, expecting a major war at any time, and the United Nations, which led the war under American supervision and that of about 18 other nations, continues to have a role in the on-off negotiations to bring about a much hoped for, but unlikely, permanent peace treaty between the two Koreas.
Meanwhile, Communist North Korea remains the most closed society in the world, with the population being brutalized by three generations of a family that has brought the nation down to dire poverty and total fear, a true totalitarian society on the level of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
Korea remains a war that most Americans do not have a clue about, and most could not find Korea on a map, due to ignorance of our history after World War II, and the much greater controversies that swirled around the later Vietnam War.
Korea remains even today the most likely place for another major American commitment of troops, if South Korea is ever attacked by North Korea, whether conventional war or nuclear attack, since North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and defying the world community, under the leadership of grandson Kim Jong Un, successor to Kim Il Sung, and Kim Jong Il!
The Korean War Memorial in Washington DC is a reminder of the sacrifices of our troops and the other nations which fought for the South Korean survival, and South Korea recovered from massive loss of life and property, and is a proud example of democracy today!
Only four American veterans of the Korean War serve in Congress, and none from World War II, as we see Congress today with pompous members who talk about war, and yet, in most cases, have never experienced military service. It is easy to send others to war, while one sits and pontificates and is ready to send others to fight!
Let us hope that no more blood is shed in the Korean peninsula, and that rationality and common sense rules!