Why does North Korea harbor such hatred towards the United States?

The pause button was pressed on the Korean Peninsula 64 years ago. But the legacy of devastation remains.

"We went there to wage a war, and ended up burning down every town in North Korea, one way or another, and some places in South Korea too," CNN quoted former U.S. Air Force Commander Curtis LeMay as saying in a 1988 interview.

North Koreans carry anti-American slogans during a commemoration of "Day of Struggle Against American Imperialism" on June 27, 2017. (Photo: AP)

According to U.S. Air Force figures, when the ceasefire was signed on July 27, 1953, North Korea – with a population of 9.6 million – had suffered 1.3 million casualties, including both military and civilian casualties. South Korea suffered 3 million civilian casualties and 225,000 military personnel out of a total population of approximately 20.2 million in 1950.

U.S. General Douglas MacArthur stated at a congressional hearing in 1951 that he had never witnessed such horrific destruction.

The Korean War broke out just five years after the end of World War II. Over 33,000 Americans were killed, and 600,000 Chinese soldiers were either killed or missing. After the war, Americans and Chinese returned home, while Koreans continued to live amidst the ruins – with infrastructure completely destroyed and towns and cities devastated.

And the aftermath of the war became a key element in Pyongyang's propaganda. That conflict saw the first large-scale air campaign conducted by the U.S. Air Force.

According to historian Charles Armstrong, American planes dropped approximately 635,000 tons of explosives on North Korea, including 32,000 tons of napalm. "In propaganda (in North Korea), the bombing campaign is portrayed as America's fundamental sin and certainly as barbaric," said Robert E. Kelly, a professor of political science at Pusan ​​University in South Korea.

June 25th, the day the Korean War began, is known as "the day of the struggle against American imperialism."

The North Korean constitution stipulates that "national defense is the supreme duty and honor of all citizens," and the country operates under a military-first policy, placing the armed forces in the number one position. North Korea also allocates a large portion of its budget to defense.

According to VNN