June 25: The Korean War Begins

On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea, beginning the Korean War. The 38th parallel had divided the Korean Peninsula after World War II, with a communist government in the North supported by the Soviet Union and a non-communist Republic of Korea in the South supported by the United States. The invasion quickly became one of the first major military crises of the Cold War.