It was first established in 1958 as an annex of the local history museum of Dandong, Liaoning Province, which is China's main border city with North Korea and played a critical role in the Korean War.

[3] Construction for a much grander building began in October 1990, and the new museum was opened on 27 July 1993[4][5] to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Panmunjom armistice.

[3] The museum spent more than 10 years collecting all the names of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers killed in the war.

[5] The exhibition in the main hall comprises more than 700 photographs and over 1,000 artifacts, as well as models, charts, paintings, and sculptures that explain the progress of the war.

[4] The memorial tower is 53 metres (174 ft) tall, which signifies the year 1953, when the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed.