War what is it good for?….

April 21st, 2009

tplaneA trip to the Korean War Memorial

 Spring has just started to come to Seoul and the weather is getting warmer…So we decided to venture to the War memorial. The Korean War 1950-1953 devastated the country, tore families apart and has left the country divided ever since. The below piece is taken from the online encyclopedia.

The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea (officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) and South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea) regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950 until the armistice signed on July 27, 1953. The conflict arose from the attempts of the two Korean powers to re-unify Korea under their respective governments. The period immediately before the war was marked by escalating border conflicts at the 38th Parallel and attempts to negotiate elections for the entirety of Korea.[22] These negotiations ended when the North Korean Army invaded the South on June 25, 1950. Under the aegis of the United Nations, nations allied with the United States intervened on behalf of South Korea. After rapid advances in a South Korean counterattack, communist-allied Chinese forces intervened on behalf of North Korea, shifting the balance of the war and ultimately leading to an armistice that approximately restored the original boundaries between North and South Korea.

While some have referred to the conflict as a civil war, many other factors were at play.[23] Each side was supported by external powers and the conflict expanded, becoming a proxy war in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The term has also been used to describe both the events preceding and following the main hostilities.

It is a sight to be scene…tanks, aircraft, helicopters, everything one can imagine..My son T had a wonderful time running around looking at all the planes…himself and his sister G loved going in and out of all the old planes. I had never seen aircraft from that era before, and it was a fascinating experience and made the conflict with North Korea much more relevant.

It was a good morning out for all the family, the significance of the memorial may have been above my children but the significance of keeping these artifacts as a memorial to all the men, women and children who lost their lives will never be forgotten in this country.

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/travel2/seoul/79