For those of you who don't know, the Korean war was the first in a string of Proxy wars between the US controlled NATO forces and Soviet controlled puppet states. It was fought between 1950 - 1953 in the Korean Peninsula.
  • Korea was occupied by Imperial Japanese forces in the Japanese wars of expansion leading up to World War 2
  • Towards the end of WW2, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia declared war on Japan and attacked and occupied Manchuria, defeating the once powerful Kwantung Army
  • Japan surrendered after the declaration of war by Soviet Russia and the dropping of the A-Bombs by the USA
  • Korea, like Germany, was split in two with a Northern and Southern Sector controlled by Soviet and Western forces respectively
  • Kim Il-Sung was a communist guerilla fighter who had fought in the Chinese civil war on the communist side. Him and his entourage gained leading positions in what came to be a communist controlled North Korea
  • The South likewise developed into a right wing dictatorship led by US backed dictator Syngman Rhee.
  • The issue of unification became an important point for both dictators, but none of them could act on their own without the consent of their master (Stalin and Washington respectively)
  • Stalin approved a North Korean offensive into South Korea in mid 1950. Up until that point, Stalin had not been willing to risk a direct confrontation with the west but a variety of factors convinced him that now was the best time to strike.
  • In mid 1950 the North Koreans launched their offensive into South Korea, pushing the South Koreans all the way south in 2 months.
  • After two months of retreat and defeat, a UN backed Expeditionary force landed in South Korea and launched a counter offensive.
  • The counter offensive was a major success and eventually the UN led forces pushed north of the 38th parallel, the line that divides North and South Korea.
  • As the UN pushed northwards into North Korea, the Chinese decided to aid their neighbors in this fight and crossed the border into North Korea. In October they launched a succesful offensive against UN and US troops, which again shifted the balance of power.
  • In December of that same year, Chinese assumed command of all communist forces in the theater. The fighting ended in a draw at the 38th parallel, almost at the exact same place where the fighting had started. This line divides Korea to this day.


It'll be interesting to see how the Chinese depict this war. It's not often portrayed in American films and when it is, it's the first war which is not portrayed in a heroic light (as no Post-WW2 wars are). It's a war of Imperial interests by both the communist and capitalist blocs. It does look tho like this film is gonna portray it as a heroic struggle against western invaders.