Liberation of Korea

Before 1945 Korea was controlled by Japan. After the second World War, USA and Soviet Union split Korea in t two. This cause the divide in the country and another divide in the ideals. USA was preaching capitalism and democracy. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, was looking to spread communism. North Korea invaded South Korea to try to form a stable, united Korea as it was before the end of the Second World War. USA acted decisively to defend the South to stop the threat of communism and to continue their policy of containment. They did not want communism to spread.

The Japanese occupation of Korea finished after 35 years following their surrender to both Soviet and American forces in 1945. The arrangement for the fate of Korea was to hold free elections and make a

In 1915, the Imperial Japanese Army invaded the Korean Peninsula, and until 1945, Korean remained under Japanese rule. But after the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Korea

Korea was partitioned at the 38th parallel; North Korea had a communist government while South Korea had a democratic government. Korea was divided into north and south sections (Doc 6a). North Korea attacked South Korea in an unexpected assault. President Truman guaranteed to help South Korea oppose Communist impact. Refugees got away from North Korea and traitors were slaughtered to fill in as a lecture to others (Doc 5).

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 America we always remember the importance of the wars we fought. For some reason most people always forget or skip the Korean War. Korea was a small colony that was taken over by Japan in 1910. When World War II ended Japan’s government was falling apart and could no longer support Korea. This left the colony to anyone who wanted it, and Russia answered the call. Russia successfully conquered the north when the south contacted the U.S. to stop them. War broke out on June 25, 1950 which had sealed the fate of the Korean Peninsula. The Korean War was mostly a coalition with communist values and capitalist values. The outcome of this war has shaped the way works.The Korean War was very important to the world because it showed that America was unprepared, the Korean Peninsula was divided, and the countries who were involved.

After the World War II, the Japanese surrendered to the Soviet and the Americans in both North and South Korea respectively. The Korean Peninsula was divided into two states at 38th parallel. In 1948, both states declared independent. Syngman Rhee was the Non-communist Democratic leader in South Korea, Seoul was chosen to be the capital. In North Korea, their leader was Kim Il Sung, established the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Pyongyang. During this time, the United States were retreating its World War II troops. The Soviet Union spotted this advantage and supported North Korea with many military supplies in preparation for the invasion into South Korea. On June 25th, 1950, the Korean War erupted after North Korean troops infringed South Korea through the 38th parallel. South Korea called help from the United Nation to stop this invasion. Two days later, President Truman sent troops and military supplies to South Korea. Out of 16 countries helped South Korea, there were 590 000 troops, 90 percent were Americans, General Douglas MacArthur was in command, South Korea seemed to be ready for the Korean

Shortly after World War II, North Korea’s central government was renamed the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Conflicts began to rise when the North and South’s political systems contradicted each others. These differences led to warfare between these two countries. During the mid to late 1900's, the North Koreans under the Kim family, went to war with South Korea inflicting many casualties while economically isolating their country internationally creating economic struggles for their own people.

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

Under Yi Sŏng-Gye’s son King Sejong, considered Korea’s greatest ruler, inventions like the rain gauge, the use of a movable type, and the birth of Korean alphabet called Hangeul, still in use today, surfaced. (Piddock, 27-28) They ruled the entire peninsula for 500 years. Then Korea was annexed by neighbors Japan in 1910. Korea continued to be under Japan until 1945 when it was liberated at the end of World War II. (“North Korea”, Culturegrams) “With the defeat of Japan in 1945, the Allies agreed to divide the Korean Peninsula between the Soviet Union and the United States at the thirty-eighth parallel as a temporary measure.” (Piddock, 30) The Soviet Union received the Northern part of Korea, and the United States the South. “.. Soviet forces closed off northern Korea at the thirty-eighth parallel and placed Korean communists in power there.” Evidently, North Korea was bound to turn communist.

The U.N. hoped that it would lead to the reunification of Korea under a democratically elected government. However, the Soviet Union refused to participate in the elections and supported Kim Il Sung as the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the newly founded Korean People’s Army in the North. In the South, the U.S. supported Syngman Rhee as the elected leader of the Republic of Korea. Both Kim and Rhee loyal to the idea of Korean reunification, although each ruled with a different ideological vision: Communist and

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.

With the creation of a popular democratic front, KIM IL SUNG will be a suitable candidate to head it” (Report on Communists in Korea). If it weren’t for the Soviets, there would be less separation and the North and South Korean governments would be completely different. The author refers to the mass separation between the two parties but doesn’t really pay any attention to it, “In South Korea, besides the Communist Party, the strongest party is the Democratic Party, which represents the interests of the big landowners and capitalists. The party numbers about 10,000 and is headed by Song Jin-u. The party openly engages in pro-imperialist and anti-Communist propaganda”(Report on Communists in Korea). The Cold War affected North Korea in ways other than politically, also.

Another big issue the unification faces is the DPRK factor. It is very unlikely for the government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to accept to its own decline and to unify with a South-led government. The most challenging part of the reunification is the Pyongyang regime’s strong determination of not only keeping its own regime upon reunification but to also impose it on the South as they believe they have the best regime, which of course, is impossible and destructive for the South to accept. With the help and agree of the United States, the ROK stressed their goal for reunification in 2009 by issuing a “Joint Vision Statement” with the United States, stressing out their central goal of obtaining a peaceful unification on the principles of a free democracy and a market economy for the well- being of Koreans . To the DPRK, this commitment of the Republic of Korea was nothing more than demonstrating their attempt of absorbing North Korea. One of the strategic goals of the DPRK was to secure “a peace treaty in an effort to remove U.S. forces from the Korean Peninsula ” The DPRK does not like the U.S. forces in the Korean Peninsula and they always wanted the United States to stop intervening in the Korean businesses. In addition, with the United States’ “Joint Vision Statement” with the ROK, it can be clearly digested that the new Korea upon reunification would be South-led and it would mean the absorption of DPRK by the ROK. Thus, with the U.S.’s help on the

To talk about why Korea is currently divided into two nations, it goes up to August 1945, when Japan ended their colonization on Korea. Despite of the happiness of the independence, three years later in 1948, the country was divided into two nations by the 38th parallel which was a boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones. The boundary kept the north part of the Korea democratic and south part of the Korea republic. Difference of the government policy banded people from the communication. Then, on the one of those peaceful Sunday early in the morning, 1950, June 25th, people in the south part of the Korea heard a huge sound of bomb while in a sleep. When they peaked out their window, all they saw was chaos of their neighbors running around their home village that was on a fire. It was the day of the outbreak of the Korean War. Under the Soviet’s order, the North Korean