60th Anniversary of the Korean War

60 years ago today, on 25 June 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea and the Korean War began. The conflict lasted 3 years and caused many casualties, including 2 million civilians. The war has a reputation as the "Forgotten War" in Britain and America but of course is strongly remembered in North and South Korea, which have held very different commemorations to mark the anniversary.

There is plenty of coverage of the anniversary, including this impressive BBC slideshow and this thoughtful piece in the Independent, explaining how the West were caught off guard (the British government were initially reluctant to get involved and not every minister knew exactly where Korea was) by the invasion and how Truman clashed with General MacArthur over whether nuclear weapons should be used. Truman's view prevailed, and Korea remained a "limited war". This was an unpopular decision for many, and Korea remained divided once the ceasefire was agreed in 1953. Tensions continue in the peninsular, as the recent sinking of a South Korean warship have demonstrated, but hopefully the memory of the massive destruction and loss of live of the previous war will be a sufficient incentive to prevent further conflict.

PS: Here are the views of British veterans who fought in the conflict, many of whom were carrying out their national service and had had no idea where Korea was. "It was trench warfare," said one. "We laid in the trenches and dug holes in the sides of the mountains every now and then and that's where we lived. They were rat-infested. I think I was more afraid of them than I was of the Chinese." Meanwhile here are the views of Chinese soldiers who fought in the conflict. The sacrifices they made make them reluctant to abandon North Korea now, despite its increasingly erratic behaviour.

Korean Roof Tiles

The BBC and the British Museum's "History of the World in 100 Objects" series has nearly reached the halfway mark, and this evening included a fascinating description of a Korean roof tile, decorated with a dragon, from the 7th Century AD. The programme explained that this came from the "golden age" of Korean history, when the peninsular was largely unified under the Silla Kingdom. A new capital was built at Kyongju, complete with fantastic tiled roofs - a sign of wealth and sophistication but also much better at preventing fires than traditional thatch. The Kingdom's relationship with the much more powerful China was wary, just as it is today, and the programme noted that as Silla's power base was largely in the South, it is much more revered in South Korea than in the North, which prefers to look elsewhere for inspiration.

The programmes last 15 minutes each are available to download or podcast and are highly recommended. Please let us know if you come across any other interesting objects!