The war scarred both North and South Korea. Both nations suffered massive damage to their economies and infrastructure, as a result of bombings, artillery strikes and loss of skilled workers. In the aftermath of the war, South Korea was able to modernize and industrialize with the help of the United States. North Korea's economy was at first rolling, but in the 1990s it went into crisis.
Korea remains in a state of war, with no permanent peace treaty existing. Although a ceasefire exists, occasional violence generally blamed on North Korea by the west, still occurs. North Korea blames the west for such violence. However, it is generally accepted that North Korea is the criminal in these situations by most of the world. This has included hijacking and bombing of aircraft, shelling of territory, assassination attempts, bombings of South Korean government members abroad, torpedoing a South Korean naval ship, kidnapping, seizures of boats, and the construction of secret tunnels into South Korea.
According to U.S. estimates, about one million South Koreans were killed or went missing in the conflict, 85% of them civilians. According to figures published in the Soviet Union, around 1.13 million people, or 11.1% of the total population, were killed in North Korea (with the total casualties of some 2.5 million). More than 80% of the industrial and public facilities and transportation infrastructure, three-quarters of all government buildings, and half of all housing was destroyed. Both South Korea and North Korea were bombed, but the damage was far greater in North Korea. Many North Koreans took to living in caves, or other shelter. Midway through the war, American pilots found that they had no more targets to bomb, every significant target had already been destroyed.
Approximately 80,000 South Koreans were captured by the North during the war. After the armistice, about 9,000 of them were released to return to the South. The rest were forced into marriages with war widows and orphans and used as laborers to help build infrastructure projects. Although a few managed to escape over the years, the vast majority of the prisoners of war died in North Korea. North Korea has denied that it forcibly retained any prisoners from the war.
Korea remains in a state of war, with no permanent peace treaty existing. Although a ceasefire exists, occasional violence generally blamed on North Korea by the west, still occurs. North Korea blames the west for such violence. However, it is generally accepted that North Korea is the criminal in these situations by most of the world. This has included hijacking and bombing of aircraft, shelling of territory, assassination attempts, bombings of South Korean government members abroad, torpedoing a South Korean naval ship, kidnapping, seizures of boats, and the construction of secret tunnels into South Korea.
According to U.S. estimates, about one million South Koreans were killed or went missing in the conflict, 85% of them civilians. According to figures published in the Soviet Union, around 1.13 million people, or 11.1% of the total population, were killed in North Korea (with the total casualties of some 2.5 million). More than 80% of the industrial and public facilities and transportation infrastructure, three-quarters of all government buildings, and half of all housing was destroyed. Both South Korea and North Korea were bombed, but the damage was far greater in North Korea. Many North Koreans took to living in caves, or other shelter. Midway through the war, American pilots found that they had no more targets to bomb, every significant target had already been destroyed.
Approximately 80,000 South Koreans were captured by the North during the war. After the armistice, about 9,000 of them were released to return to the South. The rest were forced into marriages with war widows and orphans and used as laborers to help build infrastructure projects. Although a few managed to escape over the years, the vast majority of the prisoners of war died in North Korea. North Korea has denied that it forcibly retained any prisoners from the war.