In the summer of 1950, the people of Korea were trapped between two new superpowers of the postwar world flexing their muscles – the United States and the Soviet Union. On June 25, 1950, the North Korean People’s Army invaded the South. For the next 12 months, the opposing forces of North and South marched up and down the Korean peninsula in a series of attacks and counterattacks until cease-fire negotiations began on July 10, 1951. But the negotiations did not bring an end to the conflict, and the war dragged on for another two years.

While diplomats wrangled and negotiators argued, the fighting in the blighted Korean countryside continued. Stories emerged of atrocities committed by both sides. Amid allegations of retribution and reprisals, one of the major issues at the negotiations was the repatriation of prisoners of war. Eventually, a ceasefire was declared on July 27, 1953.