Why are there two Koreas?

Seventy-five years after the two countries went to war, tensions on the contested peninsula are heating up again

Korean War
A South Korean girl and her brother flee fighting in Haengju in June 1951
(Image credit: US Army/Wikimedia)

North Korea's invasion of South Korea that began in late June 1950 instigated a conflict that led to millions of deaths – and tensions that are still being felt today.

Sixteen countries, including the UK and US, sent troops to the Korean peninsula in aid of South Korea, while Chinese troops intervened for the North.

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