logo
episode-header-image
Jun 2025
15m 15s

1120: The Korean War Begins

Airship | Noiser | Wondery
About this episode

June 25, 1950. The Korean War begins as North Korea sends troops below the 38th parallel invading South Korea. This episode originally aired in 2024.


  • Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more.


History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.

Go to HistoryDaily.com for more history, daily.

Up next
Yesterday
1297: Saturday Matinee: The History Bureau
On today’s Saturday Matinee, presenter Helena Merriman returns to one of the most contested- and consequential- stories in modern Russia. Link to The History Bureau: https://www.bbc.com/audio/brand/m002q5dk Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. Histo ... Show More
29m 19s
Jan 16
1296: The End of the Roman Republic
January 16, 27 BCE. Octavian is granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire. This episode originally aired in 2025. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and No ... Show More
17m 38s
Jan 15
1295: The Boston Molasses Disaster
January 15, 1919. 21 people die in Boston, Massachusetts, when a storage tank bursts, triggering a killer wave of sticky molasses. Support the show! Join Into History for ad-free listening and more. History Daily is a co-production of Airship and Noiser.Go to HistoryDaily.com for ... Show More
16m 17s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
173. The Korean War: Dividing the Peninsula
The Korean War was a brutal affair. It is estimated that 3,000,000 people were killed in the conflict that absolutely devastated the Korean Peninsula. And the legacy of it is still with us today; it was over the course of this war that the division between North and South solidif ... Show More
50m 54s
Jul 2024
172. The Birth of North Korea
Whilst we know the Korean Peninsula is split into two quite separate countries, North Korea and South Korea, that has not always been been the case. Korea was an independent, singular nation until the Japanese colonised it at the start of the 20th century. This collapsed after th ... Show More
46m 58s
Oct 2024
The Korean War: everything you wanted to know
On today's Everything You Wanted to Know episode, we're covering the Korean War, exploring how the nation came to be divided in two, what the impact of fighting was on the peninsular's civilian population, and how close the clash came to going nuclear. In conversation with Spence ... Show More
37m 47s
Feb 2025
Korea War Games, Trump's Rhetoric on the DPRK, & More w/ Ju-Hyun Park of Nodutdol
<div dir="auto"><span dir="auto">In this episode of Guerrilla History, we bring back our comrade Ju-Hyun Park (whom you will remember from our recent episodes  <a href= "https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/a-history-of-american-imperialism-in-korea-us-out-of-korea-w-ju-hyun-park- ... Show More
1h 21m
Sep 2025
America in Korea: a failed occupation?
For three quarters of a century, the Korean peninsula has been divided between two very different regimes that are bitterly opposed to each other. But did it have to be this way? In his book, A Fractured Liberation, which has been shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize, Profes ... Show More
46m 26s
May 2024
Episode #203- What Was the Great East Asian War? (Part III)
In the Imjin year of 1592 the Japanese orchestrated a blitzkreig invasion of Korea. Within just two months they had captured both Seoul and Pyongyang. However, conquering Korea and holding Korea turned out to be two very different propositions. The victories of the Korean navy an ... Show More
1h 59m
Apr 2024
Episode #202- What Was the Great East Asian War? (Part II)
When the Japanese army landed in Korea in 1592 the Korean defenders were woefully underprepared. Confused diplomacy and divisive court politics had hampered Korean preparations for the coming Japanese attack. The only Korean commander who came out looking good was the war hero Ad ... Show More
1h 26m
May 2025
The Korean Empire
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Korea's brief but significant period as an empire as it moved from the 500-year-old dynastic Joseon monarchy towards modernity. It was in October 1897 that King Gojong declared himself Emperor, seizing his chance when the once-dominant China lost t ... Show More
47m 40s
May 2025
The Korean Empire
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Korea's brief but significant period as an empire as it moved from the 500-year-old dynastic Joseon monarchy towards modernity. It was in October 1897 that King Gojong declared himself Emperor, seizing his chance when the once-dominant China lost t ... Show More
47m 40s