The Numbers behind the Korean WarBeyond the historical facts and the important dates, every war is fueled by the casualties. The Korean War is no exception. In fact, the Korean War was particularly bloody and costly in terms of human lives. Besides the political and economic effects, the human toll has greater impact in telling the tale of the Korean War.
The Korean CasualtiesBefore the war began, the estimated Korean population (combined north and south) was 40 million people. There are many figures that try to lessen the impact of the war on human lives by giving conservative numbers on casualties. One of the more accepted estimates states that there were about 4 million casualties out of those 40 million people. Most of the war dead were North Koreans with only 1 million South Korean casualties. Of the 4 million casualties, most - 2 million of them - were civilians. About 500,000 were soldiers. There are still many unaccounted for.
The Foreign CasualtiesCountries that sent forces to participate in the military activities also collected sizeable sums of casualties. There were 1 million Chinese soldiers lost. 55,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea. In addition, there were about 4000 other casualties recorded. Of that 4000, over 700 were British.
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History of Korea