The novel Skull Water by Heinz Insu Fenkl is divided between the experiences of the character Big Uncle during the Korean War in 1950 and his nephew Insu's adolescence in the 1970s. It shows how alliances and protections formed during the war gave rise to familial ties and cultural integrations in the postwar era. Insu's identity as the son of a German-American military father and Korean mother reflects the enduring impact of the United States' involvement in Korea.

The Korean War was a proxy war for larger powers' overarching grabs for geopolitical power within the Cold War. These maneuvers led to a bloody and devastating conflict from 1950 to 1953, in which about 70% of deaths were those of civilians. Subsequent to Japan's defeat in World War II, Korea was divided and occupied by the United States in the south and the Soviet Union in the north — this division, along the 38th parallel, largely remains the current border between North and South Korea. An invasion of South...