North and South Korea -- Page 12

History Since 1945

Korea, one of the oldest nations in the world, was first unified in the 7th century AD. The country was occupied by Japan in 1905 and formally annexed by that state in 1910. During World War II, Korea was promised independence following the defeat of Japan. At the end of the war, however, it was divided at the 38th parallel of latitude; Soviet troops occupied Korea north of this line, and American forces were south of the parallel. Subsequent reunification efforts failed. In 1947 the United Nations agreed to supervise countrywide elections for a new government but were denied access to North Korea. Elections proceeded in the south, and on Aug. 15, 1948, the U.S. military government ended, and the Republic of Korea, with Syngman Rhee as president, was proclaimed. On Sept. 9, 1948, a Communist-controlled government in North Korea proclaimed the independence of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under Premier Kim Il Sung. Both governments claimed jurisdiction over the entire peninsula.

In 1950, North Korea invaded the South in the first phase of the Korean War, and the United Nations quickly came to the aid of the South. China came to the aid of North Korea. In 1953 the war ended inconclusively, and the cease-fire line was placed at about the 38th parallel, with a 2,000-m-wide (6,560-ft) demilitarized zone (DMZ) on either side. The truce has been an uneasy one, marked by frequent border skirmishes. Reunification talks have been held and proposed periodically since 1972 without result.