After Japanese surrender in 1945 that ended WWII, the Allies agreed to temporarily divide Korea into Republic of Korea (ROK) and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) with the right of ROK occupation given to the U.S. and DPRK to the Soviet Union. The two great power had significant political influence on the countries they occupied. In August 1948, ROK’s leader Syngman Rhee and DPRK’s leader Kim Il Sung proclaimed to each have its own sole government. DPRK invaded ROK in 1950 starting the Korean war that lasted from for 3 years. Despite U.S.’s aid to ROK and China and Soviet Union’s aid to DPRK, none of the two countries won. Korea eventually got divided at the 38th parallel line with the armistice agreement in 1953. (Leitich, Keith …show more content…
In 2000, South Korean president Kim Dae Jung and the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il met for inter- Korean summit. (Jung, Kim Dae) “7.4 Jointment Statement” of 1972 pledged that Korea would work for peaceful reunification. (Korean unification: a new kind of peacebuilding project: Professor Myoung-Kyu Park is the current director of the Institute for Peace and Unification Studies at Seoul National University) Such peaceful reunification would have to follow North Korea’s collapse and its absorption to South Korea. It is difficult to predict when North Korea would collapse, but economic and social problems arising within North Korea provides reasons that collapse is a possible scenario. (Bennett, Bruce W) North Korea is collapsing economically due to crop failures. According to the U.N. Food program, North Korean food stocks are critically low and distribution system is malfunctioning. (Leitich, Keith A) Historically, North Korea has been more industrialized than the South. However, in the 1970s, South Korea’s GDP increased and in 2011, ROK’s GDP grew up to about $31,700, while North Korea’s was about $1,800. As the economy is malfunctioning, North Koreans’ strong belief of Kim family and the government is also collapsing. Despite of North Korea’s effort to prevent citizens from outside informations, people are being exposed to the informations through North Korean defectors and smuggled South Korean dvds. More people are willing to escape from the country as North Korean defectors to South in 2016 increased by 10.9% compared to the previous year. Moreover, as food is in short supply in N. Korea, military is also weakening making it less likely for N. Korea to be able to start a war. (Bennett, Bruce
The division of Korea into South Korea and North Korea was the result of the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, leaving the countries in disagreement with a 2.5 mile gap separating the countries. Following this, the Korean War occurred between North and South Korea, in which a United Nations force led by the United States of America fought for the South, and China fought for the North, making the USA an instant enemy of North Korea. In July 1953, the Korean War came to an end.
Overshadowed by the previous, long and devastating Second World War, the Korean War became known by Canadian veterans as the "Forgotten War". After Japan's defeat in World War II, Korea was split into two parts, North Korea and South Korea. North Korea was occupied by the communist country of USSR while South Korea was held by the Americans and other democratic nations. War officially broke out on June 25, 1950, when the North Koreans assaulted across the country's division on the 38th Parallel with their men and artillery behind them. North Korea and its leaders wanted to unify the whole country from its division by taking over South Korea under their government. North Korea was allied with China and the Republic of Korea was
The Korean War begun far before North Korea had launched their first assault upon South Korea. Nearing of the end of the Second World War, the Korean Peninsula had been under Japanese control. Soon enough it was liberated by both American and Soviet forces, the Soviets occupying the country north of the 38th Parallel, and the Americans south of it. After the war, neither the Koreans, Soviets, nor the Americans could agree on the country's government. This resulted in the foundation of the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north (Ohn Chang-Il, 23). The fact that neither the States nor the Soviets were willing to compromise on anything was a prime factor in the separation of the Korean Peninsula.
In an effort to avoid a long-term decision regarding Korea's future, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to divide Korea temporarily along the 38th parallel, a latitudinal line that bisected the country. United States put the problem of Korean independence before the United Nations. A United Nations Commission decided to hold elections in Korea. The communists in North Korea refused to allow the election. The communists in South Korea boycotted it. The government in South Korea was formed by the anti-communist Syngman Rhee called the Republic of Korea (ROK). In 1946, Kim II Sung organized a communist government in the north called the Democratic People's Republic. Each government hoped to reunify the country under its own rule.
Korea had been given to america almost by accident. The peninsula was part of the japanese empire, but after World War II the Americans and Soviets decided it should be split into two pieces, along the 38th parallel. America occupied South Korea and the Soviets occupied North Korea. Even though the 38th parallel was expose to keep North Korea out of the south, and the south out of the north, the two dictators both still kept going into each other's land. The two dictators were anti-communist dictator Syngman Rhee which quite liked the americans support, and communist dictator Kim Il Sung which enjoyed the slightly more enthusiastic support of the soviets.
Korea, like Germany, had been occupied by Soviet and United States forces at the end of World War II. Korea was split in half via the 38th parallel after the Japanese Empire fell near the end of the conflict. The soviets occupied the north side of the line and the Americans occupied the south. “By the end of the decade, two new states had formed on the peninsula. In the south, the anti- communist dictator Syngman Rhee (1875-1965) enjoyed the reluctant support of the American
After World War II ended Japan was forced to give up Korea in 1945, making it a free state again. The UN decided that to help Korea, North and South would be special zones of occupation. The United States would occupy South Korea, Soviet Russia would get North Korea. (“Korean War”) The Korean War started in the 1950’s when North Korea crossed the 38th Parallel into South Korea. Almost immediately after, the UN said they were opposed to these attacks and demanded that North Korea leave South Korea. North Korea did not listen (Whiteclay, 3, 4, 6, 7). A few days later the US defended South Korea with help from 15 other countries of the UN. North Korea was backed by China and Russia. The fighting did not stop until 1953 when an armistice was signed, technically the war is still ongoing. (“Korean War:
The country of Korea was the main focus of war in the 60’s. After the second world war, a line that crossed Korea 38 degrees north latitude would decide the fate of the country. Japanese troops who were north of the line surrendered to the Soviets. The Japanese troops to the south of the line surrendered to the United States. Both the Soviet Union and the United States (along with their allies) began to invade and in their own way aid their side. The Soviets established a communist government to the North of the line, while the Western Powers in the south established a non-communist government. Their unwillingness to cooperate with one another outputted a war. The Korean War would lasted two years, but within those years left more countries
After the Japanese invasion, Korea had been swept into turmoil, which lead to the division of the country into two separate states. In the North the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, (D.P.R.K.) and in the South the Republic of Korea, (R.O.K.). The United States presence in South Korea would remain until an independent and unified Korean government was established successfully in the country. Following the impact of the Korean War, South Korea has undergone significant reform, which has aided in many changes in the cultural, economic, and political growth in the country.
At the end of World War II, Korea was divided along the 38th parallel into two separate countries, which were the Communist North and the capitalist South. When the North Korean army invaded South Korea in 1950 to unify the country, the United States called on the members of the United Nations to help.
August 1945 marked the end of World War 2, Japan’s formal surrender, and the separation of Korean peninsula into two different zones. As noted, they were divided by the 38th parallel; with the Soviet Union occupying the northern region, and United States with the Southern side. The divide was known to be a temporary measure in lieu to a formal relationship between the United Kingdom, China, and the United States are established. Unfortunately, the agreement could not be materialized as the countries were unable to compromise on such issues pertaining to create a national government for the area.
Korea was broken into two - the North and the South in 1945 as a result of the Allied Victory in World War I. This resulted in a communist state being established in the North (DPRK) and a pro-Western one set up in the South (ROK). The mid 20th century saw a series of bloody conflicts from which the Korean Armistice Agreement ensued which created the buffer now known as the Demilitarized zone. This agreement however, is regarded mainly as a truce in name only as tensions have since escalated due to events such as the 1999 naval conflict, 2010 ROKS Cheonan sinking, and the firing of multiple missiles. To this day, South Korea is still threatened by the North as they attempt to reunify Korea and in response, they have allied with Western forces, and are attempting to deter any form of attack.
During the Cold war, in the 1950’s, Korea was dealing with political conflicts and tensions along the 38th parallel border. Although Korea became independent, the Soviet Union took control of North Korea while the United States took control of South Korea; dividing the country into two halves. The Korean war began after North Korea invaded South Korea by crossing the 38th parallel. As Stueck states, “...The North Korean attack was not seen as a decisive act in an ongoing civil war but as a dangerous move that threatened world peace and stability” (Stueck 82). The leaders Kim II-Sung, of North Korea, and President Syngman Rhee, of South Korea, were eager to attack each other. The leaders wanted to gain unification through the war. North Korea's
Kim Jong Un is the the 29-year-old ruler of North Korea, one of the most distinctive and unpredictable countries in the world. It is a cocktail of poisonous elements: autocratic, repressive, isolated and poor (Powell).Its regime is dangerous not only to its people but also to the rest of the world. Its actions have had an unsettling impact on international relations in northeast Asia, particularly its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009 and its shelling of Yeonpyeong Island in 2010, all of which led to tensions between China and the united States (Ahn). North Korea’s present and future, therefore, are of global concern (Powell). North Korea is "a
Consequently, in the southern half the Republic of Korea (ROK) was established under the leadership of Syngman Rhee in May 1948 with the backing of the United States; the Soviet Union, on the other side, supported the establishment of the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea (DPRK) led by Kim Il-Sung. With the formation of two different governments in one nation, the division of Korea was now absolute. The leftist communist ideology prevailing in the north and the pro-American rightists in the south drove the country into an inevitable polarization.