Since the beginning of the 20th century, Korea has been a part of the Japanese empire; after World War II, it fell on the hands of the Americans and the Soviets to decide what should be done with their enemy’s imperial possessions.
In August 1945, the U.S. State Department divided the Korean peninsula in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line, and the US occupied the area south of the line.
The Korean War between North Korea and South Korea began on June 25, 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. The US came to the aid of South Korea as head of a UN force composed of more than a dozen countries.
Communist China joined North Korea in the war in November 1950, unleashing a massive Chinese ground attack against American forces.
As a UN member-nation, our country sent the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea (PEFToK), an army contingent of the UN forces that fought in the Korean War, which took part in the Battle of Yultong and the Battle of Hill Eerie.
After negotiations on July 27, 1953 at 10:00 a.m., an Armistice was signed, establishing a complete cessation of all hostilities in Korea.
However, the armistice is only a ceasefire between military forces, rather than an agreement between governments. No peace treaty was signed, which means that the Korean War had not actually officially ended, thus, a De-Militarized Zone (DMZ), which is a four-kilometer fortified buffer zone between the two Korean nations, currently the most heavily-defended national border in the world. Technically, North Korea and South Korea continue to be at war.
On June 20, this year, Donald Trump became the first sitting US President to take 20 steps into North Korea across the DMZ line, which set a ray of hope that peace be given a chance.
The impromptu get-together at the inter-Korean border, where an armistice was signed 66 years ago to stop the fighting of a war that killed or injured millions, was Trump’s and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s third overall meeting, and the first since their summit in February in Hanoi, Vietnam collapsed over disagreements over sanctions relief.
Some South Koreans hope this event would help resolve a deadlock in nuclear negotiations, and revive a positive atmosphere for peace.
Pope Francis has praised the meeting between Trump and Kim on Sunday saying, “in the last hours, we have assisted in Korea a good example of a culture of dialogue.” He added that the meeting “constitutes a step further in the walk of peace. Not only on that peninsula but in the entire world.”
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