Map illustrating the advances of the Korean, Chinese and United Nations Organisation troops during the Korean war (1950-1953).

On 25 June 1950, the troops of North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations (UN) called on its members to support South Korea. The war ended with the signing of the ceasefire agreement at Panmunjom on 27 July 1953.

On 25 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council reacts to the invasion of South Korea by North Korean Communist troops by demanding the immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of the North Korean army beyond the 38th parallel.

On 26 June 1950, the German daily newspaper Die Welt criticises the invasion of South Korea by North Korean Communist troops and expresses concern at the paralysis of the United Nations.

On 27 June 1950, the Italian Communist daily newspaper L’Unità condemns US policy in Korea and vigorously denounces the imperialism of the United States.

On 27 June 1950, following the invasion of South Korea by the North Korean Army, the French daily newspaper Le Monde condemns both the inconsistency of US policy in the Far East and the Communist policy of aggression encouraged by the Soviet Union.

On 27 June 1950, the US Ambassador Alan G. Kirk presents Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko with an aide-memoire calling on Moscow not to intervene in the conflict between North Korea and South Korea and to use its influence to bring the hostilities to an end.

On 28 June 1950, the Communist daily newspaper Pravda condemns the military support given by the United States to the South Korean Government.

On 29 June 1950, in reply to the US aide-memoire of 27 June 1950, the Soviet Government denies all allegations of interference in the Korean conflict.

In June 1950, facing the rapid advance of the North Korean Communist troops, the South Korean military forces, here seen hauling a 37 mm anti-tank gun, are forced to evacuate Suwon Airfield.

On 30 June 1950, the British cartoonist, David Low, illustrates the determination of both the US President, Harry Truman, and the United Nations (UN) to bring to an end the invasion of South Korea by Communist North Korean troops using military means, thereby ending the pacifism which had prevailed in the interwar period within the now defunct League of Nations.

‘Perspective: Oh dear — is this the dress rehearsal!??!?’ In July 1950, commenting on the Korean Conflict, the Saar satirical magazine Der Tintenfisch illustrates the fears of the Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, and Wilhelm Pieck, President of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), with regard to future relations between the two Germanys and the danger of an armed conflict between the FRG and the GDR.

General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations forces during the Korean War.

On 1 July 1950, the Dutch daily newspaper Het Parool highlights the risks of the current conflict in Korea and emphasises the role played by the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, in this war.

In his memoirs, Count Carlo Sforza, former Italian Foreign Minster, describes the turbulent debates in the Italian Chamber of Deputies which were prompted in July 1950 by the Korean War.

On 9 August 1950, commenting on the geopolitical implications of the Korean War from the platform of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Frenchman, Paul Reynaud, urges European countries to organise their common defence.

In this interview, Paul Collowald, former journalist on the daily newspaper Le Nouvel Alsacien and former European correspondent in Alsace for the daily newspaper Le Monde, outlines the attitude of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe in August 1950, in the light of the outbreak of the Korean War.

On 15 September 1950, as the United Nations amphibious force lands in Inchon, US units from the 5th Marine Regiment use ladders to scale the sea walls in their landing zone.

On 15 September 1950, a United Nations amphibious force, largely made up of a US expeditionary corps, lands behind the North Korean lines in Inchon, a port located 50 km west of Seoul.

On 20 September 1950, UN troops engage in fighting in the streets of Seoul, South Korea.

‘The Korean War — keeping it tight’. In October 1950, in the Luxembourg Socialist daily newspaper Tageblatt, the cartoonist Simon illustrates the issue of the 38th Parallel, a symbol of the separation of the two Koreas.

In December 1950, in the freezing temperatures of North Korea, US soldiers from the 1st Marine Division and 7th Infantry Division, on the point of being completely surrounded, wait to be evacuated after the harsh combats against the Chinese Communist troops around the Chosin Reservoir.

On 21 December 1950, the Catholic daily newspaper Luxemburger Wort condemns the invasion of South Korea by North Korean Communist troops and identifies the Communists’ responsibility in the conflict.

Copy of one of the safe-conduct passes that US aircraft dropped over North Korean positions in order to encourage their opponents to desert.

On 15 January 1951, the US delegate, Warren B. Austin, gives an address before the United Nations Assembly in which he denounces Communist imperialism in Korea and across the world and asks the UN to take measures to deal with the situation.

In 1951, despite the continuation of fighting on the Korean Peninsular, the peace talks with the Communist North Korean delegates resume in Kaesong.

On 20 March 1951, General MacArthur explains in a letter to Joseph W. Martin, Member of the US Congress, that peace in Europe depends on the outcome of the Korean War.

On 3 April 1951, US General Douglas MacArthur travels to a command post near the 38th parallel, the military demarcation between North and South Korea. Some days later, on 11 April, he would be relieved of his functions by US President Harry S. Truman following a disagreement between the US Administration and the General over the outcome of the conflict in Korea.

On 18 September 1951, at the United Nations Security Council, the US delegate, Austin B. Warren, accuses the Soviet Union of supplying arms to North Korea. To prove his case, he brandishes a Soviet rifle seized by US troops on the battlefield.

In November 1952, US Air Force ‘F-86 Sabre' jet fighters fly patrol over Korean territory.

Convention between the commander in chief of the United Nations forces, the supreme commander of the Korean People's Army and the commander of the Chinese People's Volunteers regarding a military armistice in Korea, signed on 27 July 1953 in Panmunjom.

On 27 July 1953, the French Communist daily newspaper L’Humanité expresses satisfaction with the conclusion of an armistice in Korea and deplores US foreign policy.

Dans ses Mémoires, Harry S. Truman, ancien président des États-Unis, rappelle la position américaine face à ce qui allait devenir la guerre de Corée.

In January 1956, the Americans research the possible consequences for the United States of the outbreak of an atomic conflict with the USSR.