Korean People's Army in the context of "Supreme Leader (North Korean title)"

The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union, while South Korea was supported by the United Nations Command (UNC) led by the United States. The conflict was one of the first major proxy wars of the Cold War.

After the end of World War II in 1945, Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for 35 years, was divided by the Soviet Union and the United States into two occupation zones at the 38th parallel, with plans for a future independent state. Due to political disagreements the zones formed their own governments in 1948. North Korea was led by Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang, and South Korea by Syngman Rhee in Seoul; both claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. On 25 June 1950, the Korean People's Army (KPA), equipped and trained by the Soviets, launched an invasion of the south. In the absence of the Soviet Union's representative, the UN Security Council denounced the attack and recommended member states to repel the invasion. UN forces comprised 21 countries, with the United States providing around 90% of military personnel.

The Japan Self-Defense Forces (Japanese: 自衛隊, Hepburn: Jieitai; JSDF) are the military forces of Japan. The JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense with the Prime Minister as commander-in-chief.

The Japanese Constitution, which was adopted by the Supreme Command for the Allied Powers during the occupation of Japan after World War II, stipulates that Japan will never maintain a military as well as other war potential. However, rising tensions during the Cold War led to the reinterpretation of the constitution to allow for the right to self-defense, eventually leading to the creation of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in 1954 that functions as the country's de facto military. Since the end of the Cold War, and particularly into the 21st century, increased tensions with China, North Korea, and Russia have reignited debate over the status of the JSDF and their relationship to Japanese society. The JSDF have maintained a close alliance with the United States, and have prioritized greater cooperation and partnership with Australia, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and NATO, as well as acquiring new equipment and hardware.

The Korean Armistice Agreement (Korean: 한국정전협정; Hanja: 韓國停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United States Army Lieutenant General William Harrison Jr. and General Mark W. Clark representing the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korea leader Kim Il Sung and General Nam Il representing the Korean People's Army (KPA), and Peng Dehuai representing the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA). The armistice was signed on 27 July 1953, and was designed to "ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved."

During the 1954 Geneva Conference in Switzerland, Chinese Premier and foreign minister Zhou Enlai suggested that a peace treaty should be implemented on the Korean peninsula. However, the US secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, did not accommodate this attempt to achieve such a treaty. A final peace settlement has never been achieved. The signed armistice established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the de facto new border between the two nations, put into force a ceasefire, and finalized repatriation of prisoners of war. The DMZ runs close to the 38th parallel and has separated North and South Korea since the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953.

Operation Pokpung (Korean: 폭풍 작전, lit. ''Operation Storm'') was the invasion of South Korea (Republic of Korea, ROK) by North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK) that triggered the Korean War. North Korea launched the blitzkrieg by crossing the 38th parallel north and swarming South Korea at 04:00 PYT/KST on 25 June 1950. The DPRK did not declare war before the invasion and rushed to encircle and eventually capture Seoul, the capital of South Korea, from the ROK within a week.

North Korea had mobilized for an invasion of South Korea for over year prior with support from the Soviet Union, which trained and supplied the Korean People's Army (KPA) with weapons, munitions, armored fighting vehicles, tanks, and aircraft. The vastly superiorly armed and trained KPA overwhelmed and overran the ill-prepared and underarmed Republic of Korea Army (ROKA); thus the DPRK captured Seoul within three days on 28 June.

Kim Jong Un (born 8 January 1983 or 1984) is a North Korean politician and dictator who has served as the third supreme leader of North Korea since 2011 and general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is the third son of Kim Jong Il, his predecessor as supreme leader, and a grandson of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.

From late 2010, Kim was viewed as the successor to the North Korean leadership. Following his father's death in December 2011, state television announced Kim as the "great successor to the revolutionary cause". He assumed various leadership posts, and also became member of the Presidium of the WPK Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country. In July 2012, Kim was promoted to the highest rank of marshal in the Korean People's Army, consolidating his positions as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces and Chairman of the Central Military Commission.

The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the sole ruling party of North Korea. Founded in 1949 from a merger between the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties that are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. The WPK is banned in South Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.

The North Korean Branch Bureau of the Communist Party of Korea (CPK) was founded in 1945. In 1946, it was briefly renamed to the Communist Party of North Korea, becoming independent of the CPK, and merged with the New People's Party of Korea in the same year to eventually form the Workers' Party of North Korea. In 1948, the WPNK founded North Korea. In 1949, WPNK merged with the Workers' Party of South Korea to form the Workers' Party of Korea. In 1950, WPK leader Kim Il Sung launched the Korean War, aiming to militarily unite Korea, but was deterred by American intervention. Kim Il Sung attempted to stay neutral during the Sino–Soviet split, while decreasing both Chinese and Soviet influence in the WPK. Kim Il Sung purged rival factions in the WPK in the 1950s and 1960s, while promoting his own cult of personality.