—Discover how the world we live in today was shaped by the Korean War—
“KOREA: The Never-Ending War” is about a conflict that people worldwide have long underestimated, misunderstood and misrepresented, yet is still today instantly relevant.
The film encompasses the present and past of the conflict, from today’s leaders and events — including U.S. President Donald Trump and Supreme Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) Kim Jong Un — to historic personalities and moments of the past, such as the following individuals:
- Joseph Stalin, Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.)
- Harry S. Truman, President of the Unites States of America
- Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Communist Party of China, People’s Republic of China
- Kim Il Sung, Supreme Leader of North Korea
- Syngman Rhee, the first and the last Head of State of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and then President of South Korea
“The political realities at the center of today’s current conflict mirror those faced in 1950. It’s a delicate and dangerous political chess game with the threat of nuclear war hanging over the entire world,” said filmmaker John Maggio. “The Korean War was largely forgotten in this country, falling in the shadow of WWII and Vietnam, but the lessons of that war are never more important. This war is not officially over, and my hope is this film, told from the perspective of the men and women who fought and survived it, will shed new light on how we arrived here.”
As the documentary details, the Korean War was a gigantic global event: 24 nations took part in the struggle that lasted three full years, June 25, 1950 to July 27, 1953.
It displayed the outsized egos of enormous historical personalities and marked the lives and deaths of millions of anonymous people — historians estimate four million died.
The film provides multiple views of the war — on the ground and in the trenches, from ordinary citizens and soldiers caught in the crossfire, to the political and military leaders who pulled the strings and controlled the fate of the war from far away, featuring key battles and turning points before the war, during the war, and the war’s aftermath, leading to the present day.
The Korean War forced the U.S. into becoming the world’s policeman, with a large standing army, huge defense budget, military bases around the world, and all but routinely intervening in far-off conflicts.
The film documents how the conflict on the Korean peninsula continued post 1953, with a brazen attack by the North on South Korea’s Presidential Blue House in 1968; the North’s seizure of the U.S.S. Pueblo, holding the crew hostage for 11 months; the downing of KAL Flight 858 in 1987, right before the first Olympics held in South Korea; and the events that triggered North Korea’s nuclear program, while, at the same time, South Korea’s economic expansion.
The film demonstrates how the consequences of the war’s stalemate have led to today, where Kim Jong Un is developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, American war ships have been deployed near the Korean peninsula, a controversial anti-missile system was installed in South Korea — and the tense relations continue for all parties, despite recent diplomatic efforts.
Through extensive archival materials and interviews with those who speak from personal experience, including American and South Korean veterans who fought in the war along with civilians caught in the conflict, "KOREA: The Never-Ending War" tells the story of how the world we live in today was shaped by this conflict.
The series presents the expertise and insights of historians, scholars, journalists and authors including Victor Cha, Senior Advisor and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who also served in the George W. Bush administration; and Sue Mi Terry, Senior Fellow, Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
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This film will be available to stream on demand simultaneously with the broadcast.
The DVD is available at ShopPBS.org.
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Credits:
A production of WETA Washington, D.C., KBS and ZED, in association with ARK Media and the BBC. Executive Producers: WETA: Jeff Bieber, Dalton Delan; ZED: Manuel Catteau; BBC: Mandy Chang and Jo Lapping; and KBS: Jeong Joong Kim. Producers: John Maggio and Tom Denison. Writer: John Maggio. Funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations and by PBS.
