At 4am on Sunday June 25, 1950 powerful North Korean forces invaded South Korea, advancing towards the Southern Capital of Seoul, in a determined attempt to reunite Korea by force. South Korean troops resisted bravely, but were crushed by overwhelming Northern superiority. On July 7 the United Nations Security Council appointed US General Douglas MacArthur to command UN forces which would be sent to save South Korea. It was a conflict which pitted UN forces against the People's Republic of China in a war which resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties.