The Koreas: Same Bed, Different Dreams

They fought the hottest clash of the cold war, but 40 years later, Koreans still stare across an armed divide. Is it time for them to reunite -- and for the U.S. to go home?

Looking back, what was accomplished? The end of World War II sundered the Korean peninsula, leaving half allied with the Soviet Union, half with the U.S. Ready to reunify the country by force -- and, with help from Moscow, strong enough to dare it -- North Korea sent its tanks south across the 38th parallel on June 25, 1950. Communist leader Kim Il Sung hoped to destroy the U.S.-backed regime of South Korean President Syngman Rhee in a bold blitzkrieg. Kim nearly succeeded before U.S. troops and a hastily assembled United Nations force pushed the North Koreans back to the Yalu...

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