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| 1950, May 30 |
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| Elections for the National Assembly of South Korea gave the majority to more moderate forces rather than to the extreme right-wing supporters of Syngman Rhee. | 1 |
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| June 5 |
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| North Korea proposed negotiations for an all-Korea assembly but refused to deal with the government of Syngman Rhee. | 2 |
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| June 25 |
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| The KOREAN WAR erupted, as North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel at 11 points. A leftist guerrilla movement in the South had just been squelched after two years of bloody warfare. The UN Security Council called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of North Korean troops. By the end of June, the DPRK had taken Seoul. | 3 |
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| June 27 |
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| The Security Council, in the temporary absence of the Soviet representative, asked members of the UN to furnish assistance to the ROK. The U.S. intervened immediately to help stem the North Korean advance (See June 27). | 4 |
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| July 8 |
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| Following a request of the Security Council, which had set up a Korean command under the U.S. (July 7), Pres. Harry S. Truman designated Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) as commanding general of the UN forces in Korea. | 5 |
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| Sept. 8 |
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| At its farthest advance, North Korea held most of the Korean peninsula except for a UN beachhead around Pusan in the southeast. | 6 |
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| Sept. 13 |
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| U.S. and South Korean forces launched a counteroffensive, coordinating with an amphibious landing at Inch'on (Sept. 15). Seoul was soon retaken (Sept. 28), and by the end of the month, UN forces reached the 38th parallel. Gen. MacArthur asked for the surrender of the North Korean forces; he was ignored. | 7 |
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| Oct. 7 |
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| The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution for a unified, independent, and democratic Korea, and set up a commission for the unification and rehabilitation of Korea. | 8 |
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| Oct. 9 |
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| Gen. MacArthur ordered the crossing of the 38th parallel, acting on the implicit authority of the UN General Assembly. Within three weeks, UN forces were approaching the Manchurian border, reaching the Yalu River at several points. | 9 |
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| Nov. 1 |
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| A North Korean counteroffensive halted and in some places drove back UN forces. The first Chinese prisoners were taken by MacArthur's forces; troops from the People's Republic of China had been coming into Korea since mid-October. | 10 |
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| Nov. 24 |
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| Gen. MacArthur launched a general assault to end the Korean War. | 11 |
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| Nov. 26 |
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| Massive numbers of CHINESE FORCES INTERVENED (See Oct), and by the end of the year they had driven the UN and ROK forces back to the vicinity of the 38th parallel. | 12 |
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