Post by History Defender on Jun 23, 2015 22:24:49 GMT
The division of Korea into South Korea and North Korea was the result of the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, ending the Empire of Japan's 35-year colonial rule of Korea by General Order No. 1. The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to temporarily occupy the country as a trusteeship with the zone of control along the 38th parallel. The purpose of this trusteeship was to establish a Korean provisional government which would become "free and independent in due course",[1] as set forth in the Cairo Conference.
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, allegedly as part of a greater plan from Soviet Union to conquer Asia,[2] occurred as Secretary of State Dean Acheson defined the American "defensive perimeter" in the Pacific as a line running through Japan, the Ryukyus, and the Philippines [3] as a speech made at the National Press Club on 12 January 1950 by excluding Taiwan and Korea, left the green light to Soviet's desire of invasion, and 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.[4] 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.
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, allegedly as part of a greater plan from Soviet Union to conquer Asia,[2] occurred as Secretary of State Dean Acheson defined the American "defensive perimeter" in the Pacific as a line running through Japan, the Ryukyus, and the Philippines [3] as a speech made at the National Press Club on 12 January 1950 by excluding Taiwan and Korea, left the green light to Soviet's desire of invasion, and 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.[4] 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.