the United Nations for "police action". For the first time in history, on Sunday, July 3, l950, an international organization voted to intervene against aggression.("The Glory and the Dream" William Manchester, pages 532, 533, 535) American ground forces successfully landed on Inchon September 15, 1950, and the United Nations forces began to gain the offensive. They retook Seoul, crossed the thirty-eighth parallel and broke through the Pusan perimeter by September 30th. KPA forces began retreating in the second phase of the war. Southern forces were approxi- mately twenty-five miles north of the parallel and had captured Wonson, on the eastern side of North Korea. After the regain of land, the South Korean forces, without much resistance from the North Korean units, marched toward the Yalu River. The tide of the war was turned once more, by the unexpected decision of China's entry into the war. United Nations forces were sent retreating again by the North Korean units which included Sino-Korean troops. Pyongyang was retaken by the Communist forces on December 6, who then re-crossed the parallel, and retook Seoul by the end of December. By the end of January, 1951, United Nations forces regained the offensive on the Han River and retook Seoul by March 14. Conditions were of desperation and despair in all of Korea, especially Seoul ,which had changed hands four times. Many Koreans fled their homes to find refugee camps, but did not leave in large numbers until after 1965. Truce negotiations began July 10, 1951, but dragged on for months and men continued to die. The conflict became an issue in the 1952 U. S. presidential election, and finally, on July 27, 1953, an Armistice was signed at Panmunjom, establishing a demilitarized zone at the thirty-eighth parallel. Neither side claimed victory, but the Communists had been stopped by international forces. (The Story of America, Readers' Digest, page 457) The Korean Americans who came to the U...
