Division of Korea

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Detail of the DMZ


Japan capitulated in August 1945. An effort to construct an independent government for the entire Korea was made in September 1945 by the statesman Lyuh Woon-Hyung. However, he had to step down under pressure from the United States Military Government. An initiative to hold general and free elections in the entire Korea came up in the United Nations in the fall of 1947. However this initiative did not materialize because of disagreement between the United States and the Soviet Union: During this period of two years between the fall of 1945 and the fall of 1947, in the absence of the opportunity to set up a unified government, two separate governments began evolving and consolidating in the south and in the north.

A Communist state was permanently established under Soviet auspices in the north and a pro-Western state was set up in the south. The two superpowers backed different leaders and two States were effectively established, each of which claimed sovereignty over the whole Korean peninsula.

The Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953, left the two Koreas separated by the Korean Demilitarized Zone through the Cold War and into the 2010s. The 2000s saw some improved relations between the two sides, overseen in the south by liberal governments, who were more amicable towards the north than previous governments had been.[2] These changes were largely reversed under conservative South Korean president Lee Myung-bak who opposed the north's continued development of nuclear weapons. In addition to this, after the death of Kim Jong-il, the incumbent supreme leader, Kim Jong-un threatened to bomb parts of South Korea.

Historical background[edit]

Korea under Japanese rule (1910–1945)[edit]


End of World War II (1939–45)[edit]

Main article: World War II



Soviet invasion of Manchuria[edit]

Regional movement of Soviet forces in 1945.





Post World War II[edit]

South Korea[edit]




South Korean citizens protest allied trusteeship in December 1945.




North Korea[edit]

Welcome Celebration for Red Army in Pyongyang on 14 October 1945.

Throughout August, Koreans organized the country into people's committee branches for the "Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence" (CPKI, 조선건국준비위원회). The Soviet Army allowed for these committees to continue to function since they were friendly to the Soviet Union, but still established the Soviet Civil Authority to begin to centralize the independent committees. Further provisional committees were set up across the country putting Communists into key positions. In March 1946 land reform was instituted as the land from Japanese and collaborator land owners was divided and handed over to poor farmers. Kim Il-sung initiated a sweeping land reform program in 1946.

Organizing the many poor civilians and agricultural laborers 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."[15] This was very popular with the farmers, but caused many collaborators and former landowners to flee 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.[16]


In February 1946 a provisional government called the Provisional People's Committee was formed under Kim Il-sung, who had spent the last years of the war training with Soviet troops in Manchuria. Conflicts and power struggles rose up at the top levels of government in Pyongyang as different aspirants maneuvered to gain positions of power in the new government. At the local levels, people's committees openly attacked collaborators and some landlords, confiscating much of their land and possessions. As a consequence many collaborators and others disappeared or were assassinated. Soviet forces departed in 1948.[citation needed]

Elections and UN intervention[edit]



South Korean general election on May 10, 1948.

The UN passed a resolution on November 14, 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, should be created. The Soviet Union, although a member with veto powers, boycotted the voting and did not consider the resolution to be binding. In April 1948, a conference of organizations from the north and the south met in Pyongyang. This conference produced no results, and the Soviets boycotted the UN-supervised elections in the south. There was no UN supervision of elections in the north.


Korean War[edit]

Main article: Korean War


Geneva Conference and NNSC[edit]


The Armistice established a Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) which was tasked to monitor the Armistice. Since 1953, members of the Swiss[17] and Swedish[18] Armed Forces have been members of the NNSC stationed near the DMZ.

Post-Armistice Inter-Korean Relations[edit]



There is a great deal of skepticism[citation needed] towards North-South Korea relations. Economically, it is commonly alleged[by whom?] that the South provides a great deal of support to the North whilst receiving nothing in return.[citation needed] However, compared to the previous South Korean government or the former West German aid to East Germany, the Kim Dae Jung administration's assistance to North Korea has been rather minuscule. The aid to North Korea in the year 2000 was only .017 percent of South Korea's GDP, less than one-fourth of the former West Germany's annual aid to East Germany.[20] While it may seem low, it must be remembered that during the year 2000, much of the South Korean government had considered the Sunshine Policy as dead. Beginning in 1998, the South Korean president Kim Dae-jung has made efforts to reunify the Korean peninsula by creating the Sunshine Policy. This policy was meant to ease tensions between South Korea and North Korea after so many years after the Korean War. It initially was meant so that instead of treating North Korea like a caged animal, South Korea and North Korea would work together and discuss any issues within the peninsula [21] However, the South Korean government has recently stated that the nuclear arms program in North Korea has killed the Sunshine Policy.[22] As such, the South Korean government no longer desires cooperation with North Korea since North Korea refused to meet all its demands.


The foreign relations that define the place of North and South Korea in the world community today are product of the trajectories.[clarification needed] Starting with 1945 nation building process of South Korea led by US, South has been allied with United States whereas North Korea has allied with China and Russia.[citation needed] However with the increasing prosperity of China and its power in the international society, North Korea has limited power in China.[23]

Post division of Korea incidents[edit]


In 1976, in now declassified meeting minutes, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense William Clements told Henry Kissinger that there had been 200 raids or incursions into North Korea from the south, though not by the U.S. military.[26] Details of only a few of these incursions have become public, including raids by South Korean forces in 1967 that had sabotaged about 50 North Korean facilities.[27]

Some instances of incidents caused by North Korea include:

Land border incidents[edit]


  • March 1981: Three North Korean infiltrators spotted at Kumhwa, Gangwon-do, one was killed.
  • May 1982: Two North Korean infiltrators were spotted on the east coast, one was killed.
  • May 2006: Two North Korean soldiers enter the DMZ and cross into South Korea. They return after South fires warning shots.
  • October 2006: South Korea fires warning shots after North Korean soldiers cross briefly into their side of the border.
  • 23 November 2010: After a Northern warning to cease planned military drills near the island of Yeonpyeong, the South commenced the drill. The North then bombarded the island with heavy artillery in response to the firings related to the South's readiness-exercise and the South returned fire with howitzers. On Yeonpyeong, 4 were killed (including 2 civilians) and 15 injured.[29]

Incidents in other areas[edit]

  • June 1969: North Korean agent reached Huksan Island, resulting in 15 killed.
  • August 1975: Two North Korean infiltrators intercepted at Gochang County, Jeollabuk-do kills one infiltrator, two South Korean soldiers and wounds another two South Korean soldiers.

Maritime incidents[edit]

  • May 1996: Five North Korean naval patrol craft entered South Korean waters in the west coast and withdrew after a four-hour confrontation with Southern forces. Another incident in June 1996 saw three North Korean naval patrol craft intruding for three-hours in the same area.
  • 17 September 1996: in the 1996 Gangneung submarine infiltration incident a disabled North Korean submarine was spotted on the east coast near Jeongdongjin, 20 kilometres south-east of Gangneung, Gangwon-do. The 11 man submarine crew was apparently killed by North Korean commandos onboard after the submarine was grounded. 13 of the North Korean commandos were killed by South Korean soldiers as they tried to make their way back over the DMZ over the next 49 days, one was captured and one escaped. 13 South Korean soldiers and 4 civilians were killed, and five others wounded. North Korea threatened to retaliate over the incident, and in October 1996, a South Korean diplomat, Choe Deok-geun, was found poisoned in Vladivostok by a substance similar to that carried on the submarine.[30][31][32][33] By 29 December, however, the North issued an official statement expressing "deep regret" over the submarine incident, although it did not issue a direct apology. In return, the South Korean government returned the cremated remains of the infiltrators to the North via Panmunjom on 30 December.
  • 22 June 1998: in the 1998 Sokcho submarine incident, a North Korean Yugo class submarine was found caught in fishing nets in South Korean waters 18 km off the coast from Sokcho. South Korean fishermen observed the crew trying to untangle the submarine from the fishing nets and notified the South Korean navy. The submarine was subsequently towed by a South Korean corvette to a navy base near Sokcho. The submarine sank as it approached the base, it was later salvaged and when opened all nine crew were found dead in an apparent group suicide.[34] North Korea criticized the South for causing the death of the crew and demanded the return of the bodies and submarine on 27 June. South Korean President Kim Dae Jung asked for the North to "admit responsibility and take reasonable measures" in response.
  • 17–18 December 1998: In the Battle of Yosu, a North Korean semi-submersible boat was sunk near Yeosu after an exchange with the South Korean navy. A North Korean frogman's body was found near the site.
  • 26 March 2010: The South Korean warship Cheonan sinks, killing 46 sailors. On 19 May 2010 an investigation said a North Korean submarine caused the sinking.[36]

Air incidents[edit]

  • 15 April 1969: North Korea shoots down an EC-121 over the Sea of Japan, 31 American service men were killed.
  • 17 June 2011: South Korean soldiers mistakenly fired on an Asiana commercial airplane with small-arms fire; they believed it to be North Korea's military aircraft.[37]

See also[edit]


  4. ^ 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 0-8078-2361-9. 
  11. ^ "Ghosts of Cheju". Newsweek. 2000-06-19. Retrieved 2012-09-02. 
  13. ^ "Gov’t Killed 3,400 Civilians During War". Korea Times. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2014. 
  14. ^ 두 민간인 학살 사건, 상반된 판결 왜 나왔나?'울산보도연맹' – '문경학살사건' 판결문 비교분석해 봤더니.... OhmyNews (in Korean). 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2012-09-02. 
  17. ^ [1][dead link]
  18. ^ [2][dead link]
  25. ^ Korea Herald, "N.K. Commits 221 Provocations Since 1953", 5 January 2011.
  28. ^ Incursions. Korean DMZ. Retrieved on 2013-07-12.
  30. ^ Bertil, Lintner (2002), Blood Brothers: Crime, Business, and Politics in Asia, Allen and Unwin, pp. 213–214, ISBN 1-86508-419-0 
  34. ^ Efron, Sonni (1998-06-23). "S. Korea Seizes Another Northern Sub Off Coast". los Angeles Times. 
  35. ^ "North Korea ship 'in flames after naval clash', says Seoul". Herald Sun. Retrieved December 23, 2011. 
  36. ^ "(Cheonan attack) (News Focus) S. Korea working on diplomatic, military options against N. Korea". English.yonhspnews.co.kr. Retrieved 18 October 2014. 



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