Carl Mydans covered the Korean War for almost a year between 1950 and 1951. During that period, Seoul changed hands four times. By March of 1951, the city was in ruins, mostly destroyed in vicious street battles. Its prewar population dropping from 1.5 million inhabitants to a mere 200,000 plagued by massive food shortages. Throughout the war, Mydans witnessed how millions of Koreans were uprooted from their homes by bombing, shelling, or fear, and recorded their attempts to flee to safety.
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