The Unification Of The Korean Peninsula

Background: Ever since the presidency of Harry Truman, we have been constantly involved in foreign conflicts due to fear of the spread of communism. As a consequence of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Korea was divided into two governments. During Mr. Truman’s presidency, the spread of communism was increasing in tension due to the North Korean invasion of South Korea. The United States believed that it was not in its best interests to let Korea fall to communist power. As a result, the U.S. joined the war in efforts to stop the downfall of South Korea. The north koreans received aid from communist China and the war went on until the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed. This agreement set up a demilitarized zone

In 1950, South Korea developed its economy and was greatly influenced by the United States of America. While North Korea followed the path of communism, South Korea discovered a better path of developing their nation and becoming more unified as a family. The surrender of Japan to the allies at the end of World War II was the catalyst in the split of Korea. North Korea then attempted to conquer the Korean peninsula by force (Armstrong). South Korea focused on intensifying their nationalism such as developing their own culture and the unity of factions. Additionally, South Korea focused on improving the efficiency of its government system as it selected a new designated leader and received support and funding from their

Across the Yellow Sea in China, there was a civil war between the communists where Mao Zedong was in charge and the nationalists by Chiang Kai-shek. In the end, the communists won, this meant that Mao would support Kim Ill Sung because of their similar philosophy on how to run their country. Soon, the US started to withdraw troops in 1948 after the secretary of state, Dean Acheson stated that South Korea was out of the “defense perimeter” (“United”). After Sung heard this, China and Russia helped North Korea to plan the attack for South Korea while they weren’t being protected by the US. At the same time, citizens who were against Rhee increased letting Sung think that he will become a hero if he was successful in reuniting the two Koreas. In 1949, Sung asked for permission from Stalin about attacking South Korea. Stalin declined the idea because their army was too weak compared to South Korea. Although they had China’s aid, they couldn’t help North Korea much because of their instability of their own country since their recent civil war that ended not so long ago. Sung and Stalin wanted South Korea to invade first and only have North Korea to counterattack the South. By August 1949, Sung talked again to Russia, this time with the news that South Korea was planning to attack the north and that the US was going to remove all their troops in Korea, giving North Korea a chance for “military action” (Schaff). The war broke out on June 25, 1950 and ended up

Since the armed force powers left the south locale, China was looking to join the war for North Korea

Since the Korean War began the Soviet Union invaded the part of northern korea, when right after World War II ended the cold war have created tensions between Korea and U.S.S.R. The American people feared that communist invaded lots of countries in East for a reason the communist formed as what they believed every sources of other nations should be trade internationally. So America put a new policy “containment” as set for preventions of Joseph Stalin planned invading the part of Korea. Back in the year of 1910 the Japanese terrorized the korea but then they surrendered them on the Soviet Union to Northern Korea and become the axis powers, the United States to South Korea and they part of the allied powers. The both sides had a decision

The Korean War (1950-1953) emerged after World War II where the world powers at the time, the United States and Allies-UN Forces and the Soviet Union had conflicting visions for what the postwar world should look like. The shaping of the Korean Peninsula was first on their agendas. The Soviet Union vision was to unify Korea through the expansion of Communism, which made sense strategically with Communist China and the Soviet Union in Korea’s backyard. However, the unification of Korea would only happen via civil war. North Korea would have to invade South Korea and inflict their will by means of armed force. Conversely, as one can imagine the UN-Forces vision was to prevent the expansion of Communism and unify North and South Korea in a single country protected by the United States. (Alexander, 2013) Over a period of three years, the conflicting world powers would duke it out. North Korea would strike first by engaging in civil war and South Korea with UN Forces assistance would help stop their onslaught. Next, uninformed the UN Forces would head into North Korea on the offensive, only to be met by prepared communist forces, which leads to retreat of the UN Forces and ultimately a stalemate. (Hammel, 1981)

The Korean peninsula has always been in a rough location. It is located between China and Japan, trapped. It could be reasonably compared to the rope in a tug-of-war game, having been occupied by one or the other for a large majority of time. In 1910, Japan had annexed Korea and were occupying the region. Their occupation stayed firm until Japan’s ultimate defeat in World War 2. One may think that Japan leaving the region would mean that Korea would receive its sovereignty back. However, they ended up becoming more divided than ever. After World War 2, the Soviet Union and the United States became involved in what is commonly known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union was communist. The U.S. wanted to keep communism from spreading. The Cold War

After North and South Korea became separate countries after the Korean War families were separated and the peninsula became divide. Re-unification has become desire for many since the separation. Families could once again become reunited and the North Korean nuclear threat would be mitigated. Thankfully, the communist regime of the North is not sustainable and will eventually fall within the next 5 to 8 years; however, the fall of North Korea will present its own series of problems.

After Japan’s defeat from the World War II in 1945, Japan lost its colonies and the fate of colonized countries was given to the United States and the Soviet Union. The victorious allies, the United States and the Soviet Union, finally agreed to divide Korea into two nations, with Soviet troops occupying the north and U.S. troops in the south regardless of Korean’s opinion. Under the short-lived joy of liberation from Japan, Koreans had to suffer from the tragic division. This arrangement was meant to be temporary until elections could be held to unify the country under a single government. However, those elections were never held. The allies from World War II were broken into the communist and capitalist society. The Soviets installed a communist

When the Japanese empire was dismantled at the end of World War Two, Korea fell victim to the Cold War. It was divided into two spheres of influence along the 38th parallel. The Americans controlled south of the line - the Russians installed a communist regime in the north, later ceding influence to

The ancient Korean empire controlled the entire peninsula for thousands of years, until 1910, when the more dominant and capable Japanese army invaded and attained authority over the isle through a signed treaty. The leadership of Korea remained in the hands of Japan until they were defeated by the US in World War Two. As Korea emerged from four decades of brutal Japanese rule, the peninsula was then split halfway between the Soviet Union (who dominated the north) and the US (who had controlled the south) in 1948. This divide between territories was mainly a product of the Cold War and both nations sought to gain territory in order to prevail. The Soviets appointed a man by the name of Kim Il Sung as the leader of the North, who demonstrated

In 1910, “Korea became a Japanese colony with Prime Minister Yi Wan-yong’s signing of the Treaty of Annexation.”Korea under Japanese colonialism, from 1910 to 1945, struggled to maintain their nationalism as a whole. Almost every Korean citizen, the ones without connections to power, had to give up on their properties for Japanese military and government purposes. A great amount of Koreans were tortured or even killed if they refused to comply with the soldiers’ demand. During this colonization of Korea, Koreans suffered greatly not only because of the loss of their identity, but through the hardships they were forced into by the Japanese. Such as the men being forced into hard labor jobs under dangerous and slave-like conditions while the

On August 4th, 2015, two South Korean soldiers were injured by a North Korean landmine, prompting the South for the first time in eleven years to resume anti-North propaganda broadcast via loudspeakers across the border. These conflicts provoked cross-border fire and heated rhetoric, however China and the United States are usually at the ready to ease friction between the North and South. For the past 60 years the flames of the North and South Korean conflict have kept burning ever since the spark of the Korean War. Although a majority of the fire has been extinguished with the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War, the flames of the Korean conflict still live, causing occasional burns and damage between nations. The political influences of the United States significantly affected the conflict between North and South Korea during the Korean War and have continued to affect this conflict for the past 60 years by means of military involvement, oppression of communism, and conflicting interests with other nations.

The Korean peninsula extends about 1,100 km from the southern part of the Asian mainland and South Korea occupies the southern portion with a total area of about 99,000 square kilometers (Soh, n.d.). Although most of this area is mountainous and sparsely populated, approximately 30% of the total land area of South Korea is flat enough for agricultural and urban development. Located in the northwestern part of the country, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is a metropolis home to more than ten million residents. Seoul is a city full of culture and history as Soh (n.d.) states “The palaces, shrines, and other vestiges of the Choson Dynasty are still prominent features of the city north of the Han River, serving as major tourist attractions”. There are four general regions in South Korea: the broad basin of the Nakdong River dominates the southeast; the southwest has mountains and valleys; the west has coastal plains, river basins, and rolling hills; and the east has high mountain ranges and narrow coastal plains (Geography and climate, 2012). The Yellow Sea and the East China Sea border the western and southern coasts, respectively, and contain about three thousand islands which are mostly small and uninhabited. At the end of World War II, the United States of America and the Soviet Union established the border between South Korea and North Korea at the 38th Parallel (Soh, n.d.). The Military Demarcation Line replaced this boundary in 1953 to bring a cease-fire to the

The Korean peninsula has been plagued with internal conflict for over half a century. To this day the inhabitants of this currently divided nation are on the verge of a full-fledged war. Each side anticipates hostile action from the other side of the 38th parallel that divides the peninsula. The daily tension along the line is palpable, and neither side is willing to acquiesce to the desires of its former people. Before the invasions of Japan and subsequent Korean War involvement of China, this now alienated nation was once united in a singular culture. Presently, North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea's (Republic of Korea) culture could not be further from each other. Commencing the extremist isolationism