An outline, era by era

Korea

division, Korean War (1950 – 1953), South Korea's rise

20th Century · 1914 – 2000

Korea is a peninsula in northeast Asia that was a single state for over a thousand years, ruled by the Joseon dynasty from 1392 and annexed by Japan in 1910. After Japan's defeat in 1945 the peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel into a Soviet-occupied north and a US-occupied south. In 1948 this became two states: the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north.

In June 1950 North Korean forces invaded the South, beginning the Korean War. It drew in United States-led United Nations forces and Chinese troops, and ended in July 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. The line of division and a heavily armed demilitarised zone remain. Over the following decades South Korea grew from one of the poorest countries in the world into a rich industrial economy and, from the late 1980s, a democracy.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Japan annexes Korea

    Event

    What happened

    After defeating Russia in 1905, Japan makes Korea a protectorate through the Eulsa Treaty of November 1905. In August 1910 the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty ends the Korean state. Japan then rules the peninsula as a colony until 1945.

    The rest is history

    Colonial rule brought railways, industry and a large bureaucracy, but also suppression of political rights and, later, pressure on Koreans to adopt Japanese names and language. The March First Movement of 1919 was a nationwide protest against the occupation and was put down by force. Korean exile groups, including a provisional government in Shanghai, carried on the independence cause. The memory of colonial rule shaped politics in both Korean states, and it remains a source of dispute with Japan.

    Sources

    1. BookEckert, Carter J., et al. Korea Old and New: A History. Seoul: Ilchokak, 1990.
    2. BookDuus, Peter. The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

  2. Liberation and division at the 38th parallel

    Event

    What happened

    In August 1945 the Soviet Union enters the war against Japan and its troops move into northern Korea. In the same month US officers propose the 38th parallel as the line between Soviet and American zones for accepting the Japanese surrender. Japan's rule ends, and Korea is occupied by two powers.

    The rest is history

    The division was meant to be temporary, and a 1945 Moscow conference discussed a joint trusteeship. Talks between the occupiers failed amid the early Cold War. Each side backed Korean leaders who shared its outlook, Kim Il Sung in the north and Syngman Rhee in the south. A UN-supervised election in the South led to the Republic of Korea in August 1948, and the North proclaimed its own state in September.

    Sources

    1. BookCumings, Bruce. The Origins of the Korean War, Volume 1: Liberation and the Emergence of Separate Regimes, 1945-1947. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.
    2. BookArmstrong, Charles K. The North Korean Revolution, 1945-1950. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2003.

  3. North Korea invades the South

    Event

    What happened

    On 25 June 1950 the North Korean army crosses the 38th parallel in force and quickly takes Seoul. The UN Security Council calls for withdrawal and asks members to help South Korea. The Soviet delegate is absent at the time because of a boycott.

    The rest is history

    Documents from Soviet archives opened in the 1990s show that Kim Il Sung sought and received approval from Stalin, and that Mao Zedong was also consulted. US-led forces landed at Inchon in September 1950 and pushed north. This brought China into the war. The invasion turned a civil and political dispute into a large international war.

    Sources

    1. BookWeathersby, Kathryn. "New Findings on the Korean War." Cold War International History Project Bulletin 3 (1993).Soviet documents on the decision to invade.
    2. BookStueck, William. The Korean War: An International History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.

  4. China enters the war

    Event

    What happened

    In October 1950 UN forces cross the 38th parallel and advance toward the Yalu River on the Chinese border. In late October and November, Chinese People's Volunteers enter the war in large numbers. They drive UN forces back south of Seoul by early 1951.

    The rest is history

    The front stabilised near the 38th parallel by mid-1951. General Douglas MacArthur, who wanted to widen the war, was dismissed by President Truman in April 1951. Two years of costly, largely static fighting and negotiation followed. The war killed millions of people, including a very large number of Korean civilians, though exact totals are uncertain.

    Sources

    1. BookChen, Jian. China's Road to the Korean War. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994.
    2. BookMillett, Allan R. The War for Korea, 1950-1951: They Came from the North. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2010.

  5. The armistice of 1953

    Event

    What happened

    Armistice talks begin in July 1951 and drag on for two years, with prisoner repatriation the hardest issue. On 27 July 1953 commanders of the UN Command, North Korea and China sign an armistice at Panmunjom. It sets a ceasefire line and a demilitarised zone about four kilometres wide.

    The rest is history

    South Korea's president Rhee did not sign. No peace treaty followed, so the two states are technically still at war. The US and South Korea signed a mutual defence treaty in October 1953. The demilitarised zone has stayed one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryKorean Armistice Agreement. Signed at Panmunjom, 27 July 1953.
    2. BookStueck, William. Rethinking the Korean War. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

  6. The April Revolution and the 1961 coup

    Event

    What happened

    In April 1960, student-led protests against a rigged election force President Syngman Rhee to resign. A short-lived democratic government follows. In May 1961 General Park Chung-hee seizes power in a military coup.

    The rest is history

    Park ruled until his assassination in 1979 and first governed through a military junta, then as an elected president under changing constitutions. His government set out to build an export-led economy. It also limited political freedoms. The mixture of rapid growth and authoritarian rule marks the early South Korean economic rise.

    Sources

    1. BookLee, Chong-Sik. Park Chung Hee: From Poverty to Power. Palos Verdes: KHU Press, 2012.
    2. BookKim, Byung-Kook, and Ezra F. Vogel, eds. The Park Chung Hee Era: The Transformation of South Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011.

  7. Export-led industrialisation

    Event

    What happened

    From the early 1960s South Korea adopts five-year economic plans and promotes exports, with state credit steering large family-run firms called chaebol. In the 1970s it pushes heavy and chemical industries such as steel, shipbuilding and cars. Per capita income rises from a very low level to that of a middle-income country within about two decades.

    The rest is history

    Historians debate how much credit belongs to state direction, to US aid and Japanese capital, and to a skilled, hard-working labour force. Growth came with long hours, tight control of labour and heavy debt. Democratisation followed mass protests in June 1987, and direct presidential elections were held that December. By the 1990s South Korea joined the OECD, in 1996.

    Sources

    1. BookAmsden, Alice H. Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989.
    2. BookKohli, Atul. State-Directed Development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

  8. The Gwangju Uprising and democratisation

    Event

    What happened

    After Park's assassination in 1979, General Chun Doo-hwan takes control and imposes martial law in May 1980. In Gwangju, citizens rise against it and troops put the uprising down with great force. Chun becomes president and rules until 1988.

    The rest is history

    Gwangju became a symbol for the democracy movement. Protests grew through the 1980s and, in June 1987, forced Chun's party to accept direct presidential elections. Both Chun and his successor Roh Tae-woo were later convicted in the 1990s. Estimates of the dead at Gwangju vary, with official counts in the low hundreds.

    Sources

    1. BookShin, Gi-Wook, and Kyung Moon Hwang, eds. Contentious Kwangju. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
    2. BookOberdorfer, Don. The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997.

  9. Dangun and the founding of Korea

    Origin story

    The legend

    Hwanung, son of the heavenly lord, descends to Mount Taebaek and a bear who has eaten mugwort and garlic becomes a woman. She bears a son, Dangun, who founds the first Korean kingdom, Gojoseon, traditionally in 2333 BCE. He is said to have ruled for over a thousand years.

    The rest is history

    The tale is first written down in the 13th century, in Iryeon's Samguk yusa, citing earlier Chinese and Korean works. There is no archaeological proof of a state in 2333 BCE. Korea's earliest known states formed in the first millennium BCE. The founding story became a symbol of shared origin, and both Korean states have drawn on it. South Korea marks National Foundation Day on 3 October.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryIryeon. Samguk yusa. Korean chronicle of legends and history, c. 1280s.
    2. BookLee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984.

  10. MacArthur's 'home by Christmas'

    Popular belief

    The legend

    It is often said that the war was expected to end quickly, and that troops were promised they would be home by Christmas 1950. The Chinese entry then ruined this hope.

    The rest is history

    The phrase is linked to MacArthur's optimism in autumn 1950. He did say in a statement of 24 November that the offensive would end the war and hoped to bring troops home by Christmas, though he later disputed that it was a promise. Chinese attacks began days later, and the war continued for another two and a half years. The episode is remembered as an example of overconfidence before China's entry.

    Sources

    1. BookHalberstam, David. The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War. New York: Hyperion, 2007.
    2. BookStueck, William. The Korean War: An International History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.

  11. The Korean War as a 'forgotten war'

    Popular belief

    The legend

    The Korean War is often called the 'Forgotten War', as if it left little mark on memory, especially in the United States.

    The rest is history

    The label came from American writers, who contrasted the war with World War II and Vietnam. In Korea and China it is anything but forgotten, shaping politics and national memory. In the US, a national memorial opened in Washington in 1995. For Koreans, it divided families and fixed the border still in place.

    Sources

    1. BookCumings, Bruce. The Korean War: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2010.
    2. BookOberdorfer, Don. The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997.

  12. The Korean peninsula was split by two young American officers

    Popular belief

    The legend

    The story goes that the 38th parallel was chosen in minutes by two young US colonels late at night, with little thought, using a National Geographic map.

    The rest is history

    The core is documented. On the night of 10 to 11 August 1945, Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel, working under time pressure, proposed the 38th parallel, which put Seoul in the American zone. The Soviet side accepted it, which surprised the Americans. The decision was made by officers, but it was approved at higher levels, and Soviet acceptance was part of larger wartime bargaining. Rusk later gave his own account in his memoirs.

    Sources

    1. BookRusk, Dean. As I Saw It. New York: W. W. Norton, 1990.
    2. BookCumings, Bruce. The Origins of the Korean War, Volume 1. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981.

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