The Korean War armistice is signed at Panmunjom, ending three years of bloody fighting. The Korean War, like World War II, was a conflict marked by mass movements of troops. United Nations and South Korean forces suffered some 500,000 killed, wounded, or missing in action, while Chinese and North Korean losses were at least three times that number. The armistice, though it has prevented fighting in Korea for over 60 years, was but a cease-fire.
Korea remains, as it did for most of the war, sharply divided along the heavily fortified 38th parallel. In 2000, North and South Korea met for the first time at a summit, and families divided by the Korean War were allowed to visit their relatives across the 38th parallel for the first time in five decades. South Korean President Kim Dae Jung was awarded the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at reconciliation with North Korea.
