North Korea had planned on waiting until China invaded Taiwan. However, with the American preemptive strikes, as outlined in Operations Plan 5015, provided the impetus for the massed Korean People’s Army to begin moving. Armored columns started out of their laagers, arrows aimed for the DMZ and beyond. The United States and South Korea sought to slow the tide threatening the peninsula.

Meanwhile, the combined forces leadership worried whether their preemptive attacks were enough to destroy the North Korean nuclear, biological, and chemical weapon stockpiles. After nearly 70 years of comparative peace, the Korean War was about to ignite anew.