38th parallel

American  

[thur-tee-eytth par-uh-lel, par-uh-luhl, thur-tee-eyth] / ˈθɜr tiˌeɪtθ ˈpær əˌlɛl, ˈpær ə ləl, ˈθɜr tiˌeɪθ /

Or 38th Parallel

noun

1. the line of latitude 38 degrees North (38° N), in East Asia, which roughly marks the border between North Korea and South Korea: set by the U.S. in 1945 as a military boundary, three years before these countries were officially established.

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Etymology

Origin of 38th parallel

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

More remarkable is that the U.S. was again unprepared, without a tank on the peninsula when the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 22, 2025

The DMZ is a strip of land that has split the Korean peninsula in two along the 38th parallel since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953.

From Washington Times • May 18, 2022

The Pentagon estimates nearly 7,700 U.S. troops are unaccounted for from the conflict, including 5,300 believed to have been killed north of the 38th parallel, which marks the border between the two Koreas.

From Washington Post • Jul. 4, 2018

The border between the two Koreas was set near the 38th parallel, almost where it had been before the war.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012

After the service, as the remaining worshippers gathered outside the church, news whipsawed through the crowd that North Korean troops had crossed the 38th parallel.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau