Hello, while my day, today 25th June, has been fine it was not that way back in 1950 when nearly 100,000 North Korean troops stormed across the 38th parallel overwhelming the border's South Korean defenders. The start of the Korean war, as many of my readers may well know. I write this piece with acknowledgement to the History Channel for the concise summary below and respect for all my colleagues and fellow Koreans here in Seoul on this sad anniversary.

On 27th June, U.S. President Harry Truman announced that the United States would intervene in the conflict, and on June 28, the United Nations approved the use of force against communist North Korea.

In the opening months of the war, the U.S.-led U.N. forces rapidly advanced against the North Koreans, but in October, Chinese communist troops entered the fray, throwing the Allies into a general retreat.

In 1953, a peace agreement was signed, ending the war and reestablishing the 1945 division of Korea that still exists today. U.N. and South Korean forces suffered some 500,000 casualties in the war while communist losses were at least three times that.

I don’t have any stamps to show but I did pick up a few postcards when I visited the DMZ a month ago. Here is one which shows the Military Armistice Commission Meeting.

Enjoy your stamps… Michael