South Korea Dbq

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Long before the Korean War occurred, the Korean peninsula had battled through a series of invasion attempts from the Chinese, Mongols, and the Japanese. Neither of these adversaries were successfully able to gain complete control over Korea. The first unsuccessful attempt by the Japanese occurred in 1592. Japan later attempted again at seizing control in 1598 but felt a similar result as their first attempt. During the 18th century, the Korean trade market had flourished with many other nations in commerce and trade. This was beneficial to the country of Korea in many ways because it set the stage bringing more

wealth into the country. Europeans first arrived in Korea in 1656 when a Dutch ship crashed and settled on the coast off Korea. In the 19th century, Koreans adopted a policy, which restricted them from trading any goods with all Westerners. This policy was successful early due to the Koreans responding back with swift military actions. In one instance, the French deployed a gunboat on the coast of Korea but Korean forces were able to defend their coastal lines. In 1871, the Korean republic burned a U.S. ship called the “General Sherman” which came to crash on the coast (“A Brief History of Korea” 2017). The aftermath from this affair led to the U.S. sending warships to react but the Koreans eventually defeated them.
Due to Korean isolation, the country fell behind in most modern technology and industry.

Sometime after 1880 King Gojong attempted to change Korea’s isolation policy and reform the

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country’s trade policy. During his attempt he introduced ‘eastern ethics and western technology’ to Korea but his measures were met with heavy resistance from conservative officials and common people. Korea’s isolation policy prevented any trading and until 1876, Japanese merchants were only the allowed to participate in trade with Korea. In the next 10 years afterwards, Korea begin to sign trade treaties with America, Britain, Germany, and Russia. The vast majority of Koreans were not pleased with these new trade policies. Due to frustration with new policy in 1882, Korean soldiers captured and killed a Japanese advisor. The country of Korea would now face serious consequences for these actions and sign a new treaty. China seized the opportunity to move their soldiers into Korean lands and occupy Korean territory. Overtime, Japan had eventually taken control over Korea through influence and war with China, which Japan easily won. In 1910, the Chosun Dynasty had ended with the annexation and colonization of Korea (“Liberty in North Korea”, 2017). Chinese influence and rule was now completely over and Japan remained sole control of the Korean peninsula. Koreans did attempt to rebel against the Japanese but they were easily defeated. In response to protests and peaceful demonstrations, many Koreans were arrested and killed.
While Japan ruled over Korea, they influenced the entire existence of the Korean culture, society, and way of life. Korean culture began to die out as the Japanese influence and rule forced Koreans to confirm to Japanese cultures and values. Education was now formally being taught in Japanese, Korean language was forbidding from being spoken, and Koreans were being forced to
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change their names to Japanese related names (“A Brief History of Korea” 2017).
This led to some small reforms by the Japanese such as allowing Koreans to print newspapers and freedom to practice their religion. During WWII, many Koreans either volunteered or were forced to work in Japan. Due to heavy pressure and influence by Korean allies such as Russia and America, Korea gained a step closer towards their independence. In 1945, the Japanese rule over Korea was finally over as the allies forced Japan to surrender and Korea once again had its independence.
During the Korean War, the United States and Russia had agreed that Korea was going be divided into two zones.

The United States would invade the south and Russian forces would take the north. Russian troops forced the Japanese army to surrender in September of 1945, which allowed American troops to enter the south. The country of Korea was now divided in half with a communist government in the north and in the south, a democratic government was established. Korea had now become two completely separate countries, the north was referred to as ‘North Korea’, and the south was referred to as ‘South Korea’. In an attempted to reunite the country and make the two completely again, North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. The ruler of North Korea Kim Il-sung attempted to unify Korea under his current rule using the military (“Liberty in North Korea”, 2017). The North Koreans were successful and quickly overthrew the South Korean army gaining control over South Korea’s capital ‘Seoul’. British and American forces arrived and were able to push North Korean forces back and gain control of over two-thirds of North Korea. The Chinese than intervened

on
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the North Korean side and with an army of over 180,000 soldiers, they were able to force the South Korean allies back south to the halfway point of the country. The Korean War went back and forth with both sides counter-attacking the other and gaining the advantage. The war finally ended in a stalemate on 27 July 1953 and a cease-fire was signed by North Korea and South Korea. A border was created that still lasts today called the ‘38th parallel’.
In present day, South Korea has flourished and become one of the wealthiest nations of the world. Although the Korean War was never officially ended and a cease-fire treaty is the only reason, the two sides have not engaged in any fighting. Since the halt of the war, South Korea has made remarkable accomplishments in rebuilding their infrastructure, government, and economy. South Korea’s capital of Seoul has been regarded as one of the best tourist attractions in the world by many travelers. South Korean technology has been regarded as being one of the best in the world. Trading has flourished to extreme highs between South Korea and all the leading powerhouse countries in the world. Not much is known about the advancement of North Korea and their economy. Since 1945, North Korea has isolated themselves from most of the world. Their infrastructure has suffered and seldom have they had any relations with any NATO nations. Today, North Koreans suffer from political aggression and a corrupt government. There have been reports that there is a drastic food shortage in North Korea and the vast amount of the population are suffering from starvation. Due to North Korea’s limited contact with the rest of the world and limited media coverage, no one has been able to prove this.

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Initially the country of Korea started as a whole but overtime was divided in half due to the Korean War and the Americans occupying the south while Russians occupied the north (“A Brief History of Korea”, 2017). A political system for each region of Korea was adopted from the two superpowers that controlled
them. After the cease-fire was initiated, South Korea rebuilt their lands, economy, and relations with the rest of the world. North Korea has become an isolated nation and has suffered from a corrupted political system. North Korea does not conduct trade or have any positive relations with non-communist nations. The North Korean foreign policy and isolation from NATO has prevented the stimulation of their economy and the advancement of their overall growth. When you compare South Korea and North Korea, they are literally the opposites of each other.