This encyclopaedia covers all aspects of the conflict in Korea, principally 1945 to the late-1990s. A substantial number of the entries deal with the war itself, but full attention is also paid to developments since the ceasefire of July 1953. Subjects include the Korean Airlines bombing of 1987 when a South Korean airliner was destroyed over the sea near Burma, allegedly by a bomb planted by North Korean agents, and the incidents in September 1996 and June 1998 when a North Korean submarine was detected off the South Korean coast. Other entries include abductions, assassinations, the "axe murders" of 1976, border incidents along the 38th parallel, defections, the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), espionage, family reunions, food shortages, and the treatment of the conflict in literature and film.