To what extent was the Korean War a civil war?

The Korean War was both a civil war and an international proxy war. North Korea, under the leadership of Kim Il-Sung, initiated the Korean War by invading the South - he was under the impression that communist guerrillas in South Korea had greatly weakened it. read more

Throughout the Korean War, soldiers from around the world fought - as a matter of fact, the majority of soldiers fighting on the North Korean side were Chinese, which shows the degree to which the Korean War was an international proxy war. read more

The Korean War was a textbook example of this. It was a civil war between two government types while both governments were being backed by the other power to attempt to stop the other from gaining an advantage. The North by the Soviets the South by the Americans which ended with a stalemate that perpetuates on today. read more