line demarcation the boundary between north korea and south korea
Military Demarcation Line The Military Demarcation Line (MDL), sometimes referred to as the Armistice Line, is the 154 mile-long land border or demarcation line between North Korea and South Korea. On either side of the line is the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The MDL and DMZ were established by the Armistice at the end of the Korean War in 1953.[1]
History of Korea After the end of WWII in 1945, the Allies divided the country into a northern area, protected by the Soviets, and a southern area protected primarily by the United States. In 1948, when the powers failed to agree on the formation of a single government, this partition became the modern states of North and South Korea. The peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel: the "Republic of Korea" was created in the south, with the backing of the US and Western Europe, and the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in the north, with the backing of the Soviets and the communist People's Republic of China. The new premier of North Korea, Kim il-Sung launched the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the country under Communist rule. After immense material and human destruction, the conflict ended with a cease-fire in 1953. The two nations officially remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991.
Geography of North Korea North Korea is located in east Asia on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula.
Division of Korea A Soviet-US Joint Commission met in 1946 and 1947 to work towards a unified administration, but failed to make progress due to increasing Cold War antagonism and to Korean opposition to the trusteeship.[17] Meanwhile, the division between the two zones deepened. The difference in policy between the occupying powers led to a polarization of politics, and a transfer of population between North and South.[18] In May 1946 it was made illegal to cross the 38th parallel without a permit.[19]