Video: North Korea's Kim Jong-un launches commemoration of 60 years since Korean War The Korean War, pitting North Korean and Chinese troops against US-led United Nations and South Korean forces, ended with an armistice on July 27, 1953. A peace treaty was never signed, leaving the Korean Peninsula in a technical state of war and divided at the 38th parallel. That has not stopped the North Koreans from calling July 27 Victory Day.