North Korea says U.S., South Korea were masterminds behind Korean War

SEOUL, June 24 (UPI) -- North Korea blasted the United States and South Korea for masterminding the Korean War, a day ahead of the conflict's 65th anniversary on Thursday.

Pyongyang's state newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in an editorial, "65 years have passed since the U.S. imperialists and their running dog Syngman Rhee, and his puppet faction, launched an invasion of North Korea."

North Korea called the war "unprecedented in the history of humanity" that was also the "most barbaric invasion," according to South Korea news outlet Newsis.

Pyongyang said Washington and Seoul historically conspired to devise a "meticulous plan" to invade the North, and in the new century the "score must be settled" with those who "poured a terrible calamity on our people."

North Korea's claims of a U.S. invasion run in opposition to historical evidence.

Kim Il Sung, North Korea's founder and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un, began the armed conflict when he ordered an early morning invasion of Seoul on June 25, 1950.

The North's invasion of the South that began the war, however, is not as widely known among young South Koreans in their 20s, according to a recent poll.

South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo reported that more than half of nearly 1,200 young South Koreans surveyed said they understood the Korean War began when the South invaded the North.