
Harrowing pictures bring to life the horrifying realities of the Korean War, including an image of a young child whose father had been killed.

The pictures have re-emerged at a time of heightened tension between the US and North Korea following a successful missile test last Tuesday.

The Korean War was fought between June 1950 and July 1953 after North Korea, led by Kim Il-sung – grandfather of current despot leader Kim Jong-un – invaded its southern neighbor.

The US came to support the South, while China supported the North with assistance from the Soviet Union.

The war claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, including more than two million civilians and more than 36,000 US troops.

More than 5.7million US troops were sent to war in Korea during the three year conflict, and 36,574 were killed, according to official figures.

A further 103,000 were wounded during the brutal campaign, which followed the invasion by North Korea of its southern neighbor.

A Korean family mourns their murdered father, victim of the wholesale murder at Jeonju by North Korean troops during the three year conflict, which claimed more than two million lives

Prisoners are assembled at one of the United Nations' prisoner-of-war camps at Pusan during the Korean War, which began after North Korea, led by Kim Il-sung – grandfather of current despot leader Kim Jong-un – invaded its southern neighbor

Injured US soldier Thomas Conlon, from the 21st Infantry Regiment, lies on a stretcher at a medical aid station after being wounded while crossing the Naktong River in Korea

Two North Korean boys, serving in the North Korean Army, taken prisoner in the Sindang-dong area by elements of the 389th Inf. Regiment, are interrogated by a U.S. soldier shortly after their capture in September 1950

Engineers carry an aluminum half-pontoon , weighing 1,740 pounds, to the water at a raft-building site in November 1952 during the conflict in the Korean peninsula

Four US F4U's (Corsairs) returning from a combat mission over North Korea circling the USS Boxer as they wait for planes in the next strike to be launched from her flight deck in September 1951

The wreckage of a bridge and North Korean Communist tank south of Suwon, Korea. The tank was caught on a bridge and put out of action by the US Air Force

A soldier from the 378th Engineer Utility Detachment controls the spray switch on a tar sprinkler in October 1952

More than 5.7million US troops were sent to war in Korea during the three year conflict, and 36,574 were killed, according to official figures

Troops from the 2nd Platoon, of B Company of the 10th Engineer Battalion check a tank for booby-traps and the area for mines in October 1951

The war claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, including more than two million civilians and more than 36,000 US troops

A soldier from the ROK Army eating lunch in a war-destroyed house in Munsan-ni, Korea, as a field ration made in Japan for the ROK Army is shown unpacked in July 1951

Colonel James Murray Jr and Colonel Chang Chun San, of the North Korean Communist Army, initial maps showing the north and south boundaries of the demarcation zone, during the Panmunjom ceasefire talks in October 1951

Moment of levity: Members of the 92nd Engineer Searchlight Company focus on yodeler Elton Britt during the Camel Caravan variety show at Hongchon, Korea in June 1951

Marines from the First Marine Division pay their respects to fallen comrades during memorial services at the division's cemetery at Hamhung, Korea, in December 1950