By: Haajar Abu IsmailLike so many countries in this world, the circumstances of Korea’s split begins with the issue of foreign intervention. Historically, Korea had been a united state throughout the Choson Dynasty up until 1910, when the Japanese colonialism of Korea had become more official. With Korea recognized as a Japanese colony, there came the question of splitting up the territory that came with their loss of WWII. As a result of an agreement between the U.S. and Soviet Union, Korea was then divided into North and South, respectively, along the 38th parallel in August, 1945. That division is what most recognize as the norm today. The separated nations were effectively recognized as tools for spreading each occupying state’s reigning ideology, with Russia promoting Communism, and the USA promoting Democracy. Their influence played a vital role in shaping the political and social nature of North and South Korea today. Prior to the joint-occupation, the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence (CPKI) had branches controlling local governments, and the people’s committees were recognized by the Soviet Union in the North, but not by the USA in the South. In the North, land was re-distributed to Korean landlords and tenants, and large industries became nationalized. In the South, land was re-distributed as well, and the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was established and staffed by Korean and Japanese officials. Both the USA and the Soviet Union worked to restructure the Koreas in their preferred ideological image. Eventually, in 1948, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in North Korea was established with the support of the Soviet Union, while the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the South was established with the support of the USA in the same year. What played out from then on was a proxy war between the two larger states, for which Korea paid the price. The Korean War lasted from 1950 to 1953, with an estimated death toll of at least 2.5 million people. It began with the invasion of the South by the North, and ended when an armistice was signed. This invasion was also the first military action of the Cold War, and is also referred to as the ‘Forgotten War,’ for the lack of attention the conflict received in comparison to the Vietnam War as well as the past World Wars. Importantly, the war ending in a stalemate has since then cemented each state’s ideological divisions as separate Communist and Democratic nations, despite both having been ruled by dictators. Those leaders were Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee, respectively. Since then, the line between Koreas originally drawn by foreign states became crucially recognized by the former after each side’s ultimately failed attempt to gain ground during the war. Re-unification was then no longer an issue of waiting for foreign powers to leave, because when opportunity allowed that was precisely what was attempted through the invasion that started the war. However, it was no longer a union of ‘Korea’ as it had been historically, but a question of ideological conflict for two sides that had even then been shaped by completely different viewpoints due the Soviet and American influence. The years that have passed since then have seen the Koreas grow increasingly further apart in values, and establish extremely different societies from their shared history. In short, Korea split because as a Japanese colony, they were viewed as fair game for spreading the US and Soviet Union’s varied ideologies. The spread of those beliefs was then the core catalyst for why the division between North and South has continued to persist despite the receding influence of the foreign intervention that started it.
0 Comments
|