The Failure of the United Nations to unite the Korean Peninsula has isolated and hardened North Korea to the outside world, and to the detriment of its safety.
In 1950, the new Cold War suddenly turned hot when communist North korea invaded anticommunist South Korea. the United States immediately intervened in the conflict by sending combat troops to aid the south while the Soviets occupied the North. After 1951, the war settled into a frustrating stalemate along entrenched battle lines not far from the 38th parallel. The active combat ended with the signing of a cease-fire.
