The 38th Parallel

FAIN: TR-250079-16

Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association (Arlington, VA 22206-3440)
Jeff Bieber (Project Director: January 2016 to present)

Production of a two-part, four-hour television series about the Korean War that places the international conflict in historical context and considers its geopolitical and military legacies.

The 38th Parallel is a proposed four-hour documentary series about a war that Americans have long underestimated, misunderstood, and misrepresented. The Korean War was a gigantic global event: twenty-four nations took part in a conflict that lasted three full years. The war killed four million people. Even so, Korea has been almost-famously forgotten by the American public. Bookended by World War II and Vietnam, the Korean War marked little that anyone in this country wanted to remember and a great deal that everyone wanted to forget. It was a brutal conflict that put the first dent in the myth of American exceptionalism and brought the world close to a nuclear war. But the Korean War needs to be remembered. It determined American military and foreign policy for the next 60 years; the world we live in today, where the US all but routinely intervenes in far-off conflicts, was born with Korea. The Korean War changed everything.

Associated Products

Korea: The Never-Ending War (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Korea: The Never-Ending War
Writer: John Maggio
Director: John Maggio
Producer: Jeff Bieber
Producer: Tom Denison
Producer: Dalton Delan
Abstract: Written and produced by John Maggio and narrated by Korean-American actor John Cho, Korea: The Never-Ending War sheds new light on the global upheaval that led to the Korean War in 1950, a moment when the Cold War turned hot, and how today that war's brutal legacy has forced the world into a deadly nuclear showdown. With testimony from the soldiers on the frontlines, civilians caught in the crossfire, political leaders from then and now, journalists and historians, the film is a comprehensive re-examination of a war that took the lives of tens of thousands of American GIs and millions of Koreans. It is a war that has raged for generations. A war that most Americans don't remember, and Koreans can never forget. The film documents how the conflict has continued post-1953; the events that triggered North Korea's nuclear program; and South Korea's economic expansion. The consequences of the war's stalemate contribute to a dangerous stand-off between north and South Korea, the United States and China. The 'end' of this conflict is still an open question.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.pbs.org/weta/korea-never-ending-war/
Primary URL Description: Companion website for the filmed housed on pbs.org
Access Model: The film was made available to the general public through broadcast and streaming at the time of its release. Currently, it is available to stream on PBS Passport - a member benefit from participating PBS stations.
Format: DVD
Format: Digital File
Format: Web

PBS Learning Media Collection: Korea: The Never-Ending War (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: PBS Learning Media Collection: Korea: The Never-Ending War
Author: Greg Timmons
Abstract: Students will explore the ways Korea was divided at the end of World War II and how that division separated families, disrupted lives, and laid the foundation for the Korean War. They will examine President Harry Truman’s decision to send U.S. troops to Korea without a declaration of war. They will investigate the conditions that led to Kim Il Sung's rise to power, and they'll explore the challenges that President Truman faced.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/korea-the-never-ending-war/
Primary URL Description: A collection of media and lesson plans developed to accompany the film, available on the PBS Learning Media site.
Audience: K - 12

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