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Serving
Students at
Santa Ana
College and
Santiago
Canyon College
SOUTH KOREA
History
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History
Korea was originally
named “Chosen” it meant “Land of the morning calm.” Fittingly, it
has now changed its name to Korea and from there has broken up into, North
and South Korea.
According to
Korean legend, the god-king Tangun founded the Korean nation in BC 2333.
By the first century AD, the Korean Peninsula was divided into the kingdoms
of Silla, Koguryo, and Paekche. The Silla kingdom unified the peninsula
in 668 AD. The Koryo dynasty (from which the Western name "Korea"
is derived) succeeded the Silla kingdom in 935. The Choson dynasty, ruled
by members of the Yi clan, supplanted Koryo in 1392 and lasted until the
Japanese annexed Korea in 1910.
Throughout most
of its history, Korea has been invaded, influenced, and fought over by
its larger neighbors. It has suffered approximately 900 invasions during
its 2,000 years of recorded history. Korea was under Mongolian occupation
from 1231 until the early 14th century and was repeatedly ravaged by Chinese
(government and rebel) armies. The Japanese warlord Hideyoshi launched
major invasions in 1592 and 1597.
China had by
far the greatest influence of the major powers and was the most acceptable
to the Koreans. The Choson Dynasty was part of the Chinese "tribute" system,
under which Korea was independent in fact but acknowledged China's theoretical
role as "big brother." China was the only exception to Korea's
long closed-door policy, adopted to ward off foreign encroachment, which
earned it the name of "Hermit Kingdom" in the 19th century.
Korea's isolation
finally ended when the major Western powers and Japan sent warships to
forcibly open the country. At the same time, Japanese, Chinese, and
Russian competition in Northeast Asia led to armed conflict, and foreign
intervention established dominance in Korea, formally annexing it in 1910.
The Japanese
colonial era was characterized by tight control from Tokyo and ruthless
efforts to supplant Korean language and culture. Organized Korean
resistance, notably the 1919 Independence Movement, was unsuccessful, and
Japan remained firmly in control until the end of World War II.
Near the end
of the war, the April 1945 Yalta Conference agreed to establish a four-power
trusteeship for Korea. The trusteeship of the U.S., U.K., Soviet Union,
and China was intended as a temporary administrative measure pending democratic
elections for a Korean Government. With the unexpected early surrender
of Japan in September 1945, the United States proposed, and the Soviet
Union agreed, that Japanese troops surrender to U.S. forces below the 38th
parallel and to Soviet forces above.
However, the
Soviet Union resisted this idea and shortly after a pro western government
was set up in the south and the “Democratic peoples Republic” was set up
by the U.S.S.R. in the North. A year later in 1949, North Korea invaded
South Korea. The United Nations sent a coalition consisting of 16
allied nations troops in to assist South Korea and the resulting war ended
in three years later without a Victory, on either side.
An armistice
was created on July 27, 1953 and the conflict ended. However neither
the United States or South Korea signed the armistice, they do abide by
the laws set forth by the United Nations, but without those signatures
technically Korea is still in a state of war. A small U.S. military
presence still remains in South Korea, although there is a growing consensus
that this should stop. Trade and business relations between the United
States and South Korea remains healthy.
Links to
More Information
Korean History
History
Channel
Sources:
The
Library of Congress Country Studies
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