World War II divided Korea into a Communist northern half and an American-occupied southern half at the 38th Parallel. The Korean War of 1950-1953 began when the North Korean Communist Army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded non-Communist South Korea. General Douglas Macarthur commanded the US forces as they held off the North Koreans at the southernmost tip of Korea while the United States, though Korea was not strategically essential to it, did not want to appear soft on Communism. With US, UN, and South Korean forces pinned against the sea at Pusan, Macarthur orchestrated an amphibious assault on Inchon and recaptured Seoul, the capital of South Korea. He then crossed the 38th Parallel and pursued the North Korean Army into North Korea. Fearing that the United States wanted North Korea as a base, the People's Republic of China secretly sent an army across the Yalu River, and this Chinese army attacked the US, UN, and South Korean forces. After Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway was appointed, American morale improved and the initiative began to swing against the Chinese Communists. President Truman pressed Macarthur to be more tactful and to end the war quickly, but Macarthur went against presidential orders and continued to hope to reunify Korea. After gaining the support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Truman relieved Macarthur of command, a move that was extremely unpopular in America because Macarthur was seen as a war hero. Ridgway took command and held off the Communists with strong fortifications and entrenchments just north of the 38th Parallel. Peace negotiations dragged on, with the Communists refusing to agree to a treaty, particularly over the issue of POW repatriation, while neither side wanted to appear weak. After Eisenhower became president, a peace treaty was signed at Panmunjom in 1953, ending the war and returning Korea to a divided status essentially the same as before the war, while doing little to lessen Cold War tension.