Korean Peninsula conflict

The Korean Peninsula conflict refers to the unresolved military and political division between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (ROK/South Korea), rooted in the post-1945 partition of the peninsula along the 38th parallel by the United States and the Soviet Union after Japan's surrender.

The active phase began with the Korean War (1950–1953), triggered when DPRK forces crossed the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950. The UN Security Council, with the Soviet delegate absent, authorized a multinational force under Resolution 84 (1950) led by the United States. The People's Republic of China intervened on the DPRK side in October 1950. Hostilities ended with the Korean Armistice Agreement signed at Panmunjom on 27 July 1953, establishing the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) roughly along the front line. South Korea did not sign the armistice, and no formal peace treaty has ever been concluded, meaning the two states remain technically at war.

Key ongoing flashpoints include:

• Nuclear and missile proliferation: The DPRK withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 and has conducted six declared nuclear tests (2006, 2009, 2013, two in 2016, and 2017), prompting successive UN Security Council sanctions resolutions including 1718, 1874, 2270, and 2371.
• Maritime incidents: Clashes along the disputed Northern Limit Line in the Yellow Sea, including the 2010 sinking of the ROKS Cheonan and shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.
• Diplomatic episodes: The Six-Party Talks (2003–2009), inter-Korean summits in 2000, 2007, and 2018, and the Trump–Kim summits in Singapore (2018), Hanoi (2019), and the DMZ (2019).

The conflict implicates the United States (which maintains roughly 28,500 troops in the ROK under a 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty), China, Japan, and Russia. It remains a recurring agenda item in UNSC, IAEA, and DISEC forums.