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

See Examples For:

38th parallel

Japan occupied all of Korea before its 1945 surrender in the Second World War, after which the peninsula was divided into separate states along the 38th parallel.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

About 7,700 American service members are missing from the battlefields of the Korean War, including some 5,300 believed to have died north of the 38th parallel in what is now North Korea.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 2, 2018

MacArthur's replacement, General Matthew Ridgway, managed to turn the tide against the enemy, with both sides settling once again along the 38th parallel.

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