South Koreans had little weapons and military because the Korean war took place soon after WWII. WWII ended in 1945 and the Korean war started in 1950. So South Korea was still recovering from the second world war. Many South Korean cities were bombed or heavily damaged as the North Koreans invaded. It was also hard because the homes were distroyed and children were separated from there parents and wound up left in the street. It was a very hard time for South Korea. The North Koreans were at first unchecked in their invasion of the South, however, once the United Nations cited North Korea as the aggressors and authorized UN members to stop the invasion the situation changed. UN forces, led by the US Military pushed the invaders back into the North. It was then that North Korean civilians were victims of collateral damages. When Communist China aided the North Korean communists, the situation for the latter two nations improved.