Korean War Vocabulary

Front 1

Armistice

Back 1

an agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting for a certain time; a truce.

Front 2

38ºth Parallel

Back 2

popular name given to latitude 38º N that is roughly the border between North Korea and South Korean. Chosen by U.S military planners near the end of WW II as an army boundary, north of which the Americans were to accept the Japanese surrender.

Front 3

United Nations

Back 3

an organization of independent states formed in 1945 to promote internacional peace and security.

Front 4

Cold War

Back 4

the state of political hostility that existed between the Soviet Union and the US- from 1945 to 1990

Front 5

Reunification

Back 5

reunion; the act of coming together again.

Front 6

Bias

Back 6

prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another usually in a way cosidered to be unfair.

Front 7

Refugee

Back 7

a person who has been forced to leave their home in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster

Front 8

Kim II Sung

Back 8

the communist leader of North Korea. Kim develope a massive personality cult around hiimself, and ruled until his death in 1994

Front 9

Syngman Rhee

Back 9

¨Democratically elected¨leader of South Korea. Obessed with the idea of ruling a unified, independent Korea

Front 10

Harry Truman

Back 10

President of the US from April 1945- January 1953

Front 11

Douglas MacArthur

Back 11

oversaw the post- WWII occupation of Japan, and commanded the UN forces during the first phases of the Korea War.

Front 12

Reds

Back 12

Term used during the 1950s to refer to North Korea and most communist countries

Front 13

Demilitarized Zone

Back 13

A buffer zone between North and South Korea created under the terms of the armistice signed on July 27, 1953 which ended the war. Though the zone was supposed to be free of both troops and weapons, in practice it is heavily militarized, with over 1 million North and South Korea troops facing off.