Division of Korea

Last updated

Closeup of the Korean Demilitarized Zone that surrounds the Military Demarcation Line Korea DMZ.svg
Closeup of the Korean Demilitarized Zone that surrounds the Military Demarcation Line
The Korean Peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel north from 1945 until 1950 and along the Military Demarcation Line from 1953 to present. Korea demilitarized zone map - 1969.jpg
The Korean Peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel north from 1945 until 1950 and along the Military Demarcation Line from 1953 to present.

The division of Korea began on August 15, 1945 when the official announcement of the surrender of Japan was released, thus ending the Pacific Theater of World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders had already been considering the question of Korea's future following Japan's eventual surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be liberated from Japan but would be placed under an international trusteeship until the Koreans would be deemed ready for self-rule. [1] In the last days of the war, the United States proposed dividing the Korean peninsula into two occupation zones (a U.S. and Soviet one) with the 38th parallel as the dividing line. The Soviets accepted their proposal and agreed to divide Korea. [2]

Contents

It was understood that this division was only a temporary arrangement until the trusteeship could be implemented. In December 1945, the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers resulted in an agreement on a five-year, four-power Korean trusteeship. [3] However, with the onset of the Cold War and other factors both international and domestic, including Korean opposition to the trusteeship, negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union over the next two years regarding the implementation of the trusteeship failed, thus effectively nullifying the only agreed-upon framework for the re-establishment of an independent and unified Korean state. [1] :45–154 With this, the Korean question was referred to the United Nations. In 1948, after the UN failed to produce an outcome acceptable to the Soviet Union, UN-supervised elections were held in the US-occupied south only. Syngman Rhee won the election, while Kim Il Sung consolidated his position as the leader of Soviet-occupied northern Korea. This led to the establishment of the Republic of Korea in southern Korea on 15 August 1948, promptly followed by the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in northern Korea on 9 September 1948. The United States supported the South, the Soviet Union supported the North, and each government claimed sovereignty over the whole Korean peninsula.

On 25 June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt to re-unify the peninsula under its communist rule. The subsequent Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, ended with a stalemate and has left Korea divided by the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) up to the present day.

On 27 April 2018, during the 2018 inter-Korean summit, the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula was adopted between Kim Jong Un, the Supreme Leader of North Korea, and Moon Jae-in, the President of South Korea. During the September 2018 inter-Korean summit, several actions were taken toward reunification along the border, such as the dismantling of guard posts and the creation of buffer zones to prevent clashes. On 12 December 2018, soldiers from both Koreas crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) into the opposition countries for the first time in history. [4] [5]

Historical background

Japanese rule (1910–1945)

When the Russo-Japanese War ended in 1905, Korea became a nominal protectorate of Japan and was annexed by Japan in 1910. The Korean Emperor Gojong was removed. In the following decades, nationalist and radical groups emerged to struggle for independence. Divergent in their outlooks and approaches, these groups failed to come together in one national movement. [6] [7] :156–160 The Korean Provisional Government (KPG) in exile in China failed to obtain widespread recognition. [7] :159–160

World War II

Lyuh Woon-hyung giving a speech in the Committee for Preparation of Korean Independence in Seoul on 16 August 1945 geongugjunbiwiweonhoe.jpg
Lyuh Woon-hyung giving a speech in the Committee for Preparation of Korean Independence in Seoul on 16 August 1945

At the Cairo Conference in November 1943, in the middle of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek agreed that Japan should lose all the territories it had conquered by force. At the end of the conference, the three powers declared that they were "mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, ... determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent." [8] [9] Roosevelt floated the idea of a trusteeship over Korea but did not obtain agreement from the other powers. Roosevelt raised the idea with Joseph Stalin at the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Stalin did not disagree but advocated that the period of trusteeship be short. [7] :187–188 [10]

At the Tehran and Yalta Conferences, Stalin promised to join his allies in the Pacific War in two to three months after victory in Europe. On 8 August 1945, two days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, but before the second bomb was dropped at Nagasaki, the USSR declared war on Japan. [11] As war began, the Commander-in-Chief of Soviet Forces in the Far East, Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky, called on Koreans to rise up against Japan, saying "a banner of liberty and independence is rising in Seoul". [12]

Soviet troops advanced rapidly, and the U.S. government became anxious that they would occupy the whole of Korea. On 10 August 1945 two young officers – Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel – were assigned to define an American occupation zone. Working on extremely short notice and completely unprepared, they used a National Geographic map to decide on the 38th parallel as the dividing line. They chose it because it divided the country approximately in half but would place the capital Seoul under American control. No experts on Korea were consulted. The two men were unaware that forty years before, Japan and pre-revolutionary Russia had discussed sharing Korea along the same parallel. Rusk later said that had he known, he "almost surely" would have chosen a different line. [13] [14] The division placed sixteen million Koreans in the American zone and nine million in the Soviet zone. [15] Rusk observed, "even though it was further north than could be realistically reached by US forces, in the event of Soviet disagreement ... we felt it important to include the capital of Korea in the area of responsibility of American troops". He noted that he was "faced with the scarcity of US forces immediately available, and time and space factors, which would make it difficult to reach very far north, before Soviet troops could enter the area". [16] To the surprise of the Americans, the Soviet Union immediately accepted the division. [12] [17] The agreement was incorporated into General Order No. 1 (approved on 17 August 1945) for the surrender of Japan. [17]

Liberation, confusion, and conflict

Soviet forces began amphibious landings in Korea by 14 August and rapidly took over the northeast of the country, and on 16 August they landed at Wonsan. [18] By 24 August, the Red Army reached Pyongyang, the second largest city in the Korean Peninsula after Seoul. [17]

Throughout August, there was a mix of celebration, confusion, and conflict, mainly caused by the lack of information provided to the Koreans by the Allies. The general public did not become aware of the division of Korea until around when the Soviets entered Pyongyang. [19]

Meanwhile in Seoul, beginning in early to mid August, General Nobuyuki Abe, the last Japanese Governor-General of Korea, began contacting Koreans to offer them a leading role in the hand-over of power. He first offered the position to Song Jin-woo, the former head of The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper, who was seen as a champion of Korean independence activism within the peninsula. Song refused the position, which he saw as equivalent to the role of Wang Jingwei, the ruler of the Japanese puppet state in China. He instead preferred to wait until, as many expected and hoped, the KPG returned to the peninsula and established a fully domestic Korean government. On 15 August, Abe instead offered the position to Lyuh Woon-hyung, who accepted it, to the chagrin of Song. That day, Lyuh announced to the public that Japan had accepted the terms of surrender laid out in the Potsdam Declaration, to the jubilation of the Koreans and the horror of the around 777,000 Japanese residents of the peninsula. With a budget of 20,000,000 yen from the colonial government, Lyuh set about organizing the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence  [ ko ] (CPKI). The CPKI began taking over the security situation in the city and coordinating with local governments throughout the peninsula. However, the organization ended up being composed of mostly left-leaning communists, which infuriated Song even more. Lyuh attempted on multiple occasions to convince Song to join or support the CPKI, but their meetings ended in shouting matches each time. [19]

For the weeks before the American arrival in Seoul, the capital was awash with waves of rumors, some of which may have been spread by Japanese soldiers to distract the public while they prepared to leave the peninsula. On multiple occasions, rumors that Soviet soldiers were about to arrive via rail to Seoul caused either mass panic or, for some left-leaning Koreans, celebration. Even the Soviet Ambassador in Seoul was confused and phoned around to check whether Soviet soldiers were coming. Another rumor, spread both by fliers and a pirate radio broadcast, alleged the creation of a "Dongjin Republic" (동진공화국;東震共和國), with Syngman Rhee as president, Kim Ku as prime minister, Kim Il Sung as minister of military affairs, and Lyuh as foreign minister. [19]

On 16 August, young officers of the Japanese military in Seoul fiercely protested the decisions of the colonial government. Despite assurances from the colonial government to the CPKI of minimal interference from the Japanese in their affairs, the military declared that they would firmly punish any unrest, to the protest of the CPKI. [19]

On 6 September a congress of representatives was convened in Seoul and founded the short-lived People's Republic of Korea (PRK). [20] [21] In the spirit of consensus, conservative elder statesman Syngman Rhee, who was living in exile in the U.S., was nominated as president. [22] Song announced his own National Foundation Preparation Committee  [ ko ] (NFPC) on 7 September to directly counter the PRK. However, the NFPC had a minimal role in Korean politics and ended up aligning itself with the KPG after its return. [23]

Post–World War II

Division (since 2 September 1945)

Soviet occupation of northern Korea

Welcome celebration for the Red Army in Pyongyang on 14 October 1945 Welcome Celebration for Red Army in Pyongyang2.JPG
Welcome celebration for the Red Army in Pyongyang on 14 October 1945

The Soviets received little resistance from the Japanese during their advance across northern Korea and were aided by various Korean groups. [24] When Soviet troops entered Pyongyang on August 24, they found a local branch of the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence operating under the leadership of veteran nationalist Cho Man-sik. [25] The Soviet Army allowed these "People's Committees" (which were friendly to the Soviet Union) to function. In September 1945, the Soviet administration issued its own currency, the "Red Army won". [12]

As a result of the destruction caused to the Soviet Union during the Second World War, the Soviets lacked the resources and will to create a full satellite state in Korea and Koreans enjoyed a higher level of autonomy than Soviet-controlled Eastern European states. The Soviets had brought with them a number of Koreans who had been living in the Soviet Union, some of whom were members of the Soviet Communist Party, with the intention of creating a socialist state. [24] Unlike in the south, the former Japanese occupying authorities offered virtually no assistance to the Soviets, and even destroyed factories, mines and official records. [24]

During the Soviet occupation, Soviet soldiers committed widespread rape and looting against both Japanese and Koreans. Soldiers were allowed to send loot back home. These abuses lessened after the arrival of military police in January 1946. [24]

In 1946, Colonel-General Terentii Shtykov took charge of the administration and began to lobby the Soviet government for funds to support the ailing economy. [12] Shtykov's strong support of Kim Il Sung, who had spent the last years of the war training with Soviet troops in Manchuria, was decisive in his rise to power. [26] In February 1946 a provisional government called the Provisional People's Committee of North Korea was formed under Kim Il Sung. Conflicts and power struggles ensued at the top levels of government in Pyongyang as different aspirants manoeuvred to gain positions of power in the new government. [27]

In December 1946, Shtykov and two other generals designed the election results of the Assembly for the Provisional Committee without any Korean input. The generals decided "exact distribution of seats among the parties, the number of women members, and, more broadly, the precise social composition of the legislature." [26] The original 1948 North Korean constitution was primarily written by Stalin and Shtykov. [26]

In March 1946 the provisional government instituted a sweeping land-reform program: land belonging to Japanese and collaborator landowners was divided and redistributed to poor farmers. [27] Organizing the many poor civilians and agricultural labourers under the people's committees, a nationwide mass campaign broke the control of the old landed classes. Landlords were allowed to keep only the same amount of land as poor civilians who had once rented their land, thereby making for a far more equal distribution of land. The North Korean land reform was achieved in a less violent way than in China or in Vietnam. Official American sources stated: "From all accounts, the former village leaders were eliminated as a political force without resort to bloodshed, but extreme care was taken to preclude their return to power." [28] The farmers responded positively; many collaborators, former landowners and Christians fled to the south, where some of them obtained positions in the new South Korean government. According to the U.S. military government, 400,000 northern Koreans went south as refugees. [29]

Key industries were nationalized. The economic situation was nearly as difficult in the north as it was in the south, as the Japanese had concentrated agriculture and service industries in the south and heavy industry in the north.

Soviet forces were withdrawn on December 10, 1948. [30]

US occupation of southern Korea

Japanese handed over the government to the US army in Seoul on 9 September 1945 Surrender of Japanese Forces in Southern Korea.jpg
Japanese handed over the government to the US army in Seoul on 9 September 1945

With the American government fearing Soviet expansion, and the Japanese authorities in Korea warning of a power vacuum, the embarkation date of the US occupation force was brought forward three times. [7] On 7 September 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued Proclamation No. 1 to the people of Korea, announcing U.S. military control over Korea south of the 38th parallel and establishing English as the official language during military control. [31] That same day, he announced that Lieutenant General John R. Hodge was to administer Korean affairs. Hodge landed in Incheon with his troops on 8 September 1945, marking the beginning of the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK).

MacArthur as Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers ended up being in charge of southern Korea from 1945 to 1948 due to the lack of clear orders or initiative from Washington, D.C. There was no plan or guideline given to MacArthur from the Joint Chiefs of Staff or the State Department on how to rule Korea. Hodge directly reported to MacArthur and GHQ (General Headquarters) in Tokyo, not to Washington, D.C., during the military occupation. The three year period of the U.S. Army occupation was chaotic and tumultuous compared to the very peaceful and stable U.S. occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1952. Hodge and his XXIV Corps were trained for combat, not for diplomacy and negotiating with the many diverse political groups that emerged in post-colonial southern Korea: former Japanese collaborators, pro-Soviet communists, anti-Soviet communists, right wing groups, and Korean nationalists. None of the Americans in the military or the State Department in the Far East in late 1945 even spoke Korean, leading to jokes among Koreans that Korean translators were really running southern Korea. [32] [33] The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which had operated from China, sent a delegation with three interpreters to Hodge, but he refused to meet with them. [34] Likewise, Hodge refused to recognize the newly formed People's Republic of Korea and its People's Committees, and outlawed it on 12 December. [35]

Japanese civilians were repatriated, including nearly all industrial managers and technicians; over 500,000 by December 1945 and 786,000 by August 1946. Severe price inflation occurred in the disrupted economy, until in summer 1946 rationing and price controls were imposed. [3]

In September 1946, thousands of laborers and peasants rose up against the military government. This uprising was quickly defeated, and failed to prevent scheduled October elections for the South Korean Interim Legislative Assembly. The opening of the Assembly was delayed to December to investigate widespread allegations of electoral fraud. [3]

Ardent anti-communist Syngman Rhee, who had been the first president of the Provisional Government and later worked as a pro-Korean lobbyist in the US, became the most prominent politician in the South. Rhee pressured the American government to abandon negotiations for a trusteeship and create an independent Republic of Korea in the south. [36] On 19 July 1947, Lyuh Woon-hyung, the last senior politician committed to left-right dialogue, was assassinated by a 19-year-old man named Han Chigeun, a recent refugee from North Korea and an active member of the nationalist right-wing group, the White Shirts Society. [37]

USAMGIK and later the newly formed South Korean government faced a number of left-wing insurgencies, some supported by North Korea, that were eventually suppressed. Over the course of the next few years, between 30,000 [38] and 100,000 people were killed. Most casualties resulted from the Jeju Uprising. [39]

US–Soviet Joint Commission

Anti-trusteeship Movement [ko] protests in the South (December 1945) Anti-Trusteeship Campaign.jpg
Anti-trusteeship Movement  [ ko ] protests in the South (December 1945)

In December 1945, at the Moscow Conference, the Allies agreed that the Soviet Union, the US, the Republic of China, and Britain would take part in a trusteeship over Korea for up to five years in the lead-up to independence. This invigorated the Anti-trusteeship Movement  [ ko ], which demanded the immediate independence of the peninsula. However, the Korean Communist Party, which was closely aligned with the Soviet Communist party, supported the trusteeship. [40] [41] According to historian Fyodor Tertitskiy, documentation from 1945 suggests the Soviet government initially had no plans for a permanent division. [22]

A Soviet-US Joint Commission  [ ko ] met in 1946 and 1947 to work towards a unified administration, but failed to make progress due to increasing Cold War antagonism and to Korean opposition to the trusteeship. [42] In 1946, the Soviet Union proposed Lyuh Woon-hyung as the leader of a unified Korea, but this was rejected by the US. [22] Meanwhile, the division between the two zones deepened. The difference in policy between the occupying powers led to a polarization of politics, and a transfer of population between North and South. [43] In May 1946 it was made illegal to cross the 38th parallel without a permit. [44] At the final meeting of the Joint Commission in September 1947, Soviet delegate Terentii Shtykov proposed that both Soviet and US troops withdraw and give the Korean people the opportunity to form their own government. This was rejected by the US. [45]

UN intervention and the formation of separate governments

South Korean demonstration in support of the U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission [ko] in 1946 Demonstration in support of the US-Soviet Joint Commission2.JPG
South Korean demonstration in support of the U.S.-Soviet Joint Commission  [ ko ] in 1946
South Korean general election on 10 May 1948 South Korean general election 1948.JPG
South Korean general election on 10 May 1948
General MacArthur at the handover ceremony from SCAP to President Syngman Rhee on 15 August 1948 Syngman Rhee and Douglas MacArthur.jpg
General MacArthur at the handover ceremony from SCAP to President Syngman Rhee on 15 August 1948

With the failure of the Joint Commission to make progress, the US brought the problem before the United Nations in September 1947. The Soviet Union opposed UN involvement. [46] The UN passed a resolution on 14 November 1947, declaring that free elections should be held, foreign troops should be withdrawn, and a UN commission for Korea, the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK), should be created. The Soviet Union boycotted the voting and did not consider the resolution to be binding, arguing that the UN could not guarantee fair elections. In the absence of Soviet co-operation, it was decided to hold UN-supervised elections in the south only. [47] [48] This was in defiance of the report of the chairman of the commission, K. P. S. Menon, who had argued against a separate election. [49] Some UNTCOK delegates felt that the conditions in the south gave unfair advantage to right-wing candidates, but they were overruled. [7] :211–212

The decision to proceed with separate elections was unpopular among many Koreans, who rightly saw it as a prelude to a permanent division of the country. General strikes in protest against the decision began in February 1948. [44] In April, Jeju islanders rose up against the looming division of the country and full-scale rebellion developed. South Korean troops were sent to repress the rebellion. The repression of the uprising escalated from August 1948, following South Korean independence. The rebellion was largely defeated by May 1949 and 25,000 to 30,000 people had been killed in the conflict, [50] and 70% of the villages were burned by the South Korean troops. [51] The uprising flared up again with the outbreak of the Korean War. [52]

In April 1948, a conference of organizations from the north and the south met in Pyongyang. The southern politicians Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik attended the conference and boycotted the elections in the south, as did other politicians and parties. [7] :211,507 [53] The conference called for a united government and the withdrawal of foreign troops. [54] Syngman Rhee and General Hodge denounced the conference. [54] Kim Koo was assassinated the following year. [55]

On 10 May 1948 the south held a general election. It took place amid widespread violence and intimidation, as well as a boycott by opponents of Syngman Rhee. [56] On 15 August, the "Republic of Korea" (Daehan Minguk) formally took over power from the U.S. military, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. USAMGIK was formally dissolved and the Korean Military Advisory Group was formed to train and provide support for the South Korean army. U.S forces started to withdraw in a process that was completed by 1949. In the North, the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk) was declared on 9 September, with Kim Il Sung as prime minister.

On 12 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the report of UNTCOK and declared the Republic of Korea to be the "only lawful government in Korea". [57] However, none of the members of UNTCOK considered that the election had established a legitimate national parliament. The Australian government, which had a representative on the commission declared that it was "far from satisfied" with the election. [56]

Unrest continued in the South. In October 1948, the Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion took place, in which some regiments rejected the suppression of the Jeju uprising and rebelled against the government. [58] In 1949, the Syngman Rhee government established the Bodo League in order to keep an eye on its political opponents. The majority of the Bodo League's members were innocent farmers and civilians who were forced into membership. [59] The registered members or their families were executed at the beginning of the Korean War. On 24 December 1949, South Korean Army massacred Mungyeong citizens who were suspected communist sympathizers or their family and affixed blame to communists. [60]

Korean War

This division of Korea, after more than a millennium of being unified, was seen as controversial and temporary by both regimes. From 1948 until the start of the civil war on 25 June 1950, the armed forces of each side engaged in a series of bloody conflicts along the border. In 1950, these conflicts escalated dramatically when North Korean forces invaded South Korea, triggering the Korean War. The United Nations intervened to protect the South, sending a US-led force. As it occupied the south, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea attempted to unify Korea under its regime, initiating the nationalisation of industry, land reform, and the restoration of the People's Committees. [61]

U.S. planes bombing Wonsan, North Korea, 1951 Korean War bombing Wonsan.jpg
U.S. planes bombing Wonsan, North Korea, 1951

While UN intervention was conceived as restoring the border at the 38th parallel, Syngman Rhee argued that the attack of the North had obliterated the boundary. Similarly UN Commander in Chief, General Douglas MacArthur stated that he intended to unify Korea, not just drive the North Korean forces back behind the border. [62] However, the North overran 90% of the south until a counter-attack by US-led forces. As the North Korean forces were driven from the south, South Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel on 1 October, and American and other UN forces followed a week later. This was despite warnings from the People's Republic of China that it would intervene if American troops crossed the parallel. [63] As it occupied the north, the Republic of Korea, in turn, attempted to unify the country under its regime, with the Korean National Police enforcing political indoctrination. [7] :281–282 As US-led forces pushed into the north, China unleashed a counter-attack which drove them back into the south.

Captured Chinese soldiers beg for their lives to a South Korean soldier, thinking they are going to be executed, 1951. Zhi Yuan Jun Zhan Fu Gui Zai Han Guo Shi Bing Mian Qian .jpg
Captured Chinese soldiers beg for their lives to a South Korean soldier, thinking they are going to be executed, 1951.

In 1951, the front line stabilized near the 38th parallel, and both sides began to consider an armistice. Rhee, however, demanded the war continue until Korea was unified under his leadership. [64] The Communist side supported an armistice line being based on the 38th parallel, but the United Nations supported a line based on the territory held by each side, which was militarily defensible. [65] The UN position, formulated by the Americans, went against the consensus leading up to the negotiations. [66] Initially, the Americans proposed a line that passed through Pyongyang, far to the north of the front line. [67] The Chinese and North Koreans eventually agreed to a border on the military line of contact rather than the 38th parallel, but this disagreement led to a tortuous and drawn-out negotiating process. [68]

Armistice

The division in 2016 is clearly visible from space with a higher amount of light emitted into space from the South than the North Korea at night.png
The division in 2016 is clearly visible from space with a higher amount of light emitted into space from the South than the North

The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed after three years of war. The two sides agreed to create a 4-kilometre-wide (2.5-mile) buffer zone between the states, known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). This new border, reflecting the territory held by each side at the end of the war, crossed the 38th parallel diagonally. Rhee refused to accept the armistice and continued to urge the reunification of the country by force. [69] Despite attempts by both sides to reunify the country, the war perpetuated the division of Korea and led to a permanent alliance between South Korea and the U.S., and a permanent U.S. garrison in the South. [70]

As dictated by the terms of the Korean Armistice, a Geneva Conference was held in 1954 on the Korean question. Despite efforts by many of the nations involved, the conference ended without a declaration for a unified Korea.

The Armistice established a Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) which was tasked to monitor the Armistice. Since 1953, members of the Swiss [71] and Swedish [72] armed forces have been members of the NNSC stationed near the DMZ. Poland and Czechoslovakia were the neutral nations chosen by North Korea, but North Korea expelled their observers after those countries embraced capitalism. [73]

Post-armistice relations

Moon and Kim shaking hands over the demarcation line 2018 inter-Korean summit square.jpg
Moon and Kim shaking hands over the demarcation line

Since the war, Korea has remained divided along the DMZ. North and South have remained in a state of conflict, with the opposing regimes both claiming to be the legitimate government of the whole country. Sporadic negotiations have failed to produce lasting progress towards reunification. [74]

On 27 April 2018 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The Panmunjom Declaration signed by both leaders called for the end of longstanding military activities near the border and the reunification of Korea. [75]

On 1 November 2018, buffer zones were established across the DMZ to help ensure the end of hostility on land, sea and air. [76] [77] The buffer zones stretch from the north of Deokjeok Island to the south of Cho Island in the West Sea and the north of Sokcho city and south of Tongchon County in the East (Yellow) Sea. [77] [76] In addition, no fly zones were established. [76] [77]

Period dramas

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean War</span> 1950–1953 North-South Korea war

The Korean War was fought between North Korea and South Korea from 1950 to 1953. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea. The war ceased with an armistice on 27 July 1953. North Korea was supported by China and the Soviet Union while South Korea was supported by the United States and the United Nations (UN).

The history of North Korea began with the end of World War II in 1945. The surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north, and the United States occupying the south. The Soviet Union and the United States failed to agree on a way to unify the country, and in 1948, they established two separate governments – the Soviet-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the American-aligned Republic of Korea – each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of South Korea</span>

The history of South Korea begins with the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945. At that time, South Korea and North Korea were divided, despite being the same people and on the same peninsula. In 1950, the Korean War broke out. North Korea overran South Korea until US-lead UN forces intervened. At the end of the war in 1953, the border between South and North remained largely similar. Tensions between the two sides continued. South Korea alternated between dictatorship and liberal democracy. It underwent substantial economic development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syngman Rhee</span> President of South Korea from 1948 to 1960

Syngman Rhee was a South Korean politician who served as the first president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee is also known by his art name Unam. Rhee was also the first and last president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea from 1919 to his impeachment in 1925 and from 1947 to 1948. As president of South Korea, Rhee's government was characterised by authoritarianism, limited economic development, and in the late 1950s growing political instability and public opposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean conflict</span> Conflict between North and South Korea

The Korean conflict is an ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea and South Korea, both of which claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. During the Cold War, North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union, China, and other allies, while South Korea was backed by the United States, United Kingdom, and other Western allies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea</span> 1919–1945 government-in-exile

The Korean Provisional Government (KPG), formally the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, was a Korean government in exile based in China during the Japanese occupation of Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Republic of Korea</span> Government of South Korea from 1948 to 1960

The first Republic of Korea was the government of South Korea from August 1948 to April 1960. The first republic was founded on 15 August 1948 after the transfer from the United States Army Military Government that governed South Korea since the end of Japanese rule in 1945, becoming the first independent republican government in Korea. Syngman Rhee became the first president of South Korea following the May 1948 general election, and the National Assembly in Seoul promulgated South Korea's first constitution in July, establishing a presidential system of government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">People's Republic of Korea</span> 1945–1946 provisional government

The People's Republic of Korea was a short-lived provisional government that was organized at the time of the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II. It was proclaimed on 6 September 1945, as Korea was being divided into two occupation zones, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States occupying the south. Based on a network of people's committees, it presented a program of radical social change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Army Military Government in Korea</span> 1945–1948 US administration of southern Korea

The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1948 South Korean Constitutional Assembly election</span>

Constitutional Assembly elections were held in South Korea on 10 May 1948. They were held under the U.S. military occupation, with supervision from the United Nations, and resulted in a victory for the National Association for the Rapid Realisation of Korean Independence, which won 55 of the 200 seats, although 85 were held by independents. Voter turnout was 95%.

The Korea Democratic Party was the leading opposition party in the first years of the First Republic of Korea. It existed from 1945 to 1949, when it merged with other opposition parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Korea–South Korea relations</span> Bilateral relations

Formerly a single nation that was annexed by Japan in 1910, the Korean Peninsula has been divided into North Korea and South Korea since the end of World War II on 2 September 1945. The two governments were founded in the two regions in 1948, leading to the consolidation of division. The two countries engaged in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 which ended in an armistice agreement but without a peace treaty. North Korea is a one-party totalitarian state run by the Kim family. South Korea was formerly governed by a succession of military dictatorships, save for a brief one-year democratic period from 1960 to 1961, until thorough democratization in 1987, after which direct elections were held. Both nations claim the entire Korean Peninsula and outlying islands. Both nations joined the United Nations in 1991 and are recognized by most member states. Since the 1970s, both nations have held informal diplomatic dialogues in order to ease military tensions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion</span> 1948 anti-US rebellion in South Korea

The Yeosu-Suncheon rebellion, also known as the Yeo-Sun incident, was a rebellion that began in October 1948 and mostly ended by November of the same year. However, pockets of resistance lasted through to 1957, almost 10 years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean Armistice Agreement</span> 1953 end to Korean War hostilities

The Korean Armistice Agreement is an armistice that brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United States Army Lieutenant General William Harrison Jr. and General Mark W. Clark representing the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korea leader Kim Il Sung and General Nam Il representing the Korean People's Army (KPA), and Peng Dehuai representing the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA). The armistice was signed on 27 July 1953, and was designed to "ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Blacklist Forty</span> 1945–1948 US occupation of Korea

Operation Blacklist Forty was the codename for the United States occupation of Korea between 1945 and 1948. Following the end of World War II, U.S. forces landed within the present-day South Korea to accept the surrender of the Japanese, and help create an independent and unified Korean government with the help of the Soviet Union, which occupied the present-day North Korea. However, when this effort proved unsuccessful, the United States and the Soviet Union both established their own friendly governments, resulting in the current division of the Korean Peninsula.

Events from the year 1948 in South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean National Revolutionary Party</span> 1935–1947 pro-independence organization

The Korean National Revolutionary Party, or KNRP, was a nationalist party formed by exiles in Shanghai in 1935 to resist the Japanese occupation of Korea. At first it was the main nationalist Korean political party, but as the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) progressed the rival Korean National Party, later Korea Independence Party, gained more influence with the Chinese Nationalist government in Chongqing and came to dominate the Korean Provisional Government. The KNRP of America was a significant factor as a source of funds and a link to the US government. The KNRP was dissolved in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tanks of North Korea</span> Overview of North Korean military tanks

The history and development of the tank in North Korea spans the period from their adoption after World War II with the foundation of the Korean People's Army, into the Cold War and the present. Over this period North Korea has moved from being an operator of Soviet-designed and produced tanks to being the manufacturer of its own tanks.

The Left–Right Coalition Movement (Korean: 좌우합작운동) was a movement during the division of Korea led by centrists in 1946. It sought to promote cooperation between the left and right-wing of Korea in establishing a unified, peninsula-wide government after Japanese occupation. To this end, it formed a Left–Right Coalition Committee that brought together Korean politicians from across the political spectrum. It eventually failed in its goal due to increasing political polarization and the loss of the support of the United States, which adopted a firmer anti-communist stance around the beginning of the Cold War.

Events from the year 1945 in South Korea.

References

  1. 1 2 Lee, Jongsoo (2006). The Partition of Korea After World War II: A Global History. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN   978-1-4039-6982-8.
  2. Fry, Michael (5 August 2013). "National Geographic, Korea, and the 38th Parallel". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 George M. McCune (March 1947). "Korea: The First Year of Liberation". Pacific Affairs. University of British Columbia. 20 (1): 3–17. doi:10.2307/2752411. JSTOR   2752411 . Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  4. "Troops cross North-South Korea Demilitarized Zone in peace for 1st time ever". Cbsnews.com. 12 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  5. "North and South Korean soldiers enter each other's territory". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 16 December 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  6. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. pp. 31–37. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cumings, Bruce (2005). Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN   978-0-393-32702-1.
  8. "Cairo Communique, December 1, 1943". Japan National Diet Library. 1 December 1943. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  9. Savada, Andrea Matles; Shaw, William, eds. (1990). "World War II and Korea". South Korea: A Country Study. GPO. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2006.
  10. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 20. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  11. Walker, J Samuel (1997). Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan . Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press. p.  82. ISBN   978-0-8078-2361-3.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Tertitskiy, Fyodor (6 November 2018). "How Kim Il Sung became North Korea's Great Leader". NK News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  13. Oberdorfer, Don; Carlin, Robert (2014). The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. Basic Books. p. 5. ISBN   9780465031238.
  14. Seth, Michael J. (16 October 2010). A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (published 2010). p. 306. ISBN   9780742567177. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  15. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. p. 53. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  16. Goulden, Joseph C (1983). Korea: the Untold Story of the War. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 17. ISBN   978-0070235809.
  17. 1 2 3 Hyung Gu Lynn (2007). Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas since 1989. Zed Books. p. 18.
  18. Seth, Michael J. (2010). A Concise History of Modern Korea: From the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present. Hawaìi studies on Korea. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 86. ISBN   9780742567139. Archived from the original on 19 May 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Son, Sae-il (29 March 2010). "孫世一의 비교 評傳 (73)" [Son Sae-il's Comparative Critical Biography]. Monthly Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  20. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. pp. 53–57. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  21. Robinson, Michael E (2007). Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey . Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp.  105–106. ISBN   978-0-8248-3174-5.
  22. 1 2 3 Tertitskiy, Fyodor (8 August 2018). "Why Soviet plans for Austria-style unification in Korea did not become a reality". NK News. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
  23. 송, 남헌. "송진우 (宋鎭禹)" [Song Jin-woo]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture . Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  24. 1 2 3 4 Cumings, Bruce. "The North Wind: The Origins of the Korean War" (PDF).
  25. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. pp. 54–55. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  26. 1 2 3 Lankov, Andrei (10 April 2013). The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia . Oxford University Press. p. 7.
  27. 1 2 Robinson, Michael E (2007). Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey . Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p.  106. ISBN   978-0-8248-3174-5.
  28. Cumings, Bruce (1981). The Origins of the Korean War: Liberation and the Emergence of Separate Regimes, 1945–1947. Princeton University Press. ISBN   0-691-09383-0.
  29. Millet, Allan R. (2005). The War for Korea: 1945–1950. p. 59.
  30. Gbosoe, Gbingba T. (September 2006). Modernization of Japan. iUniverse (published 2006). p. 212. ISBN   9780595411900. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2015. Although Soviet occupation forces were withdrawn on December 10, 1948, [...] the Soviets had maintained ties with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [...]
  31. "Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, The British Commonwealth, The Far East, Volume VI - Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  32. Reports of General MacArthur: MacArthur in Japan: The Occupation: Military Phase: Volume 1 Supplement. Chapter III. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  33. "CHAPTER II:The House Divided". history.army.mil. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  34. Hart-Landsberg, Martin (1998). Korea: Division, Reunification, & U.S. Foreign Policy . Monthly Review Press. pp.  71–77.
  35. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. p. 57. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  36. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp.  49, 55–57. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  37. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. p. 65. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  38. Millet, Arthur (2005). The War for Korea, 1945–1950.
  39. Halliday, Jon; Cumings, Bruce (1988). Korea: The Unknown War. Viking Press. ISBN   0-670-81903-4.
  40. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. p. 59. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  41. Bluth, Christoph (2008). Korea. Cambridge: Polity Press. p. 12. ISBN   978-07456-3357-2.
  42. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. pp. 59–60, 65. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  43. Robinson, Michael E (2007). Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey . Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp.  108–109. ISBN   978-0-8248-3174-5.
  44. 1 2 Hyung Gu Lynn (2007). Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas since 1989. Zed Books. p. 20.
  45. Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Melbourne: Hardie Grant. p. 43. ISBN   978-1-74379-393-0.
  46. Lone, Stewart; McCormack, Gavan (1993). Korea since 1850. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. pp. 100–101.
  47. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. p. 66. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  48. Jager, Sheila Miyoshi (2013). Brothers at War – The Unending Conflict in Korea. London: Profile Books. p. 47. ISBN   978-1-84668-067-0.
  49. Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Melbourne: Hardie Grant. p. 45. ISBN   978-1-74379-393-0.
  50. Kim, Hun Joon (2014). The Massacre at Mt. Halla: Sixty Years of Truth Seeking in South Korea. Cornell University Press. pp. 13–41. ISBN   9780801452390.
  51. "Ghosts of Cheju". Newsweek . 19 June 2000. Archived from the original on 15 June 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  52. Robinson, Michael E (2007). Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey . Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. pp.  112. ISBN   978-0-8248-3174-5.
  53. Jager, Sheila Miyoshi (2013). Brothers at War – The Unending Conflict in Korea. London: Profile Books. pp. 47–48. ISBN   978-1-84668-067-0.
  54. 1 2 Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Melbourne: Hardie Grant. p. 46. ISBN   978-1-74379-393-0.
  55. Jager, Sheila Miyoshi (2013). Brothers at War – The Unending Conflict in Korea. London: Profile Books. pp. 48, 496. ISBN   978-1-84668-067-0.
  56. 1 2 Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Melbourne: Hardie Grant. p. 47. ISBN   978-1-74379-393-0.
  57. Buzo, Adrian (2002). The Making of Modern Korea. London: Routledge. p. 67. ISBN   978-0-415-23749-9.
  58. "439 civilians confirmed dead in Yeosu-Suncheon Uprising of 1948 New report by the Truth Commission places blame on Syngman Rhee and the Defense Ministry, advises government apology". The Hankyoreh. 8 January 2009. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  59. "Gov't Killed 3,400 Civilians During War". The Korea Times . 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  60. 두 민간인 학살 사건, 상반된 판결 왜 나왔나?'울산보도연맹' – '문경학살사건' 판결문 비교분석해 봤더니.... OhmyNews (in Korean). 17 February 2009. Archived from the original on 3 May 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  61. Lone, Stewart; McCormack, Gavan (1993). Korea since 1850. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire. p. 112.
  62. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp.  87–88. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  63. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p.  89. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  64. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p.  141. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  65. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp.  139, 180. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  66. Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Hardie Grant Books. pp. 187–188.
  67. Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Hardie Grant Books. p. 188.
  68. Pembroke, Michael (2018). Korea: Where the American Century Began. Hardie Grant Books. pp. 188–189.
  69. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp.  189–193. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  70. Stueck, William W. (2002). Rethinking the Korean War: A New Diplomatic and Strategic History . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp.  188–189. ISBN   978-0-691-11847-5.
  71. "NNSC in Korea" (PDF). Swiss Army . Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2011.
  72. "Korea". Swedish Armed Forces . Archived from the original on 25 August 2010.
  73. Winchester, Simon (2015). Pacific: The Ocean of the Future. William Collins. p. 185.
  74. Feffer, John (9 June 2005). "Korea's slow-motion reunification". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 23 August 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2007.
  75. Taylor, Adam (27 April 2018). "The full text of North and South Korea's agreement, annotated". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018 via www.washingtonpost.com.
  76. 1 2 3 이, 치동 (1 November 2018). "Koreas halt all 'hostile' military acts near border". Yonhap News Agency . Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  77. 1 2 3 "Two Koreas end military drills, begin operation of no-fly zone near MDL: MND - NK News - North Korea News". 31 October 2018. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.

Further reading