soldiers on a hillside

The Korean War never technically ended. Here’s why.

Seventy years ago, conflict erupted over who would control the Korean Peninsula. It stoked tensions that still roil today—and changed how wars are waged.

A South Korean infantry officer directs troops on the front lines of the Korean War on August 10, 1950. The conflict had erupted earlier that summer when North Korea invaded South Korea. Fighting would last for three years—and a peace treaty was never signed.

Photograph by the AP

On June 25, 1950, North Korea’s surprise attack on South Korea sparked a war that pitted communists against capitalists for control of the Korean Peninsula. Fought between 1950 and 1953, the Korean War left millions dead and North and South Korea permanently divided.

But though it was dubbed the “forgotten war” in the United States due to the lack of attention it received during and after the conflict, the Korean War’s legacy is profound: Not only does it still shape geopolitical affairs—it technically never ended—but it also set a precedent for American presidents to wage wars without consent of Congress.

The war had its roots in Japan’s occupation of Korea between 1910 and 1945. As World War II came to an

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