'Who started the Korean War?'

All visitors to the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum in Pyongyang watch a short video which starts with the question 'Who started the Korean War?'. The answer you'll hear, of course, depends on where you are, with whom you are speaking, what is defined as a war, and should the Korean War be classified as a civil war.

Today we bring you two differing views on the early days of the Korean War, one from North Korea and the other from the United States. Despite their contrasting messages, the styles are remarkably similar. This similarity reminds me of how travellers to North Korea often ask if we have see much change in the country over the years. Sometimes it can be a hard questions to answer because some of the changes in North Korea are simply the same changes going on in the rest of the world. For instance, when I first visited North Korea in 2007, no North Koreans had smartphones, but neither did I. Today smartphones are a regular sight in Pyongyang as they are among urban youth in some other parts of the world. So in the human mind it can be hard to discriminate between world trends and changes to a particular place.

That such changes in step with the rest of the world are occurring in North Korea, one could probably argue is a change in itself, albeit one that has been ongoing for quite sometime.

In any case, see below for two interesting black and white videos on the start of the Korean War.

From North Korea...

The US Imperialist Aggressors are the Provokers of the Korean War

And from the USA...

The First Forty Days in Korea

Looking to visit the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum (and the captured USS Pueblo) in Pyongyang? Check out Koryo Tours' regular group tours to North Korea.