A Brief History of the Korean Peninsula and its Politics
Created | Updated May 1, 2003
According to legend, the first Korean kingdom was founded in the year 2333 BCE at Pyong-yang, by a man named Tangun. Historical records remain unspecific until the invasion of the Emperor Wu-di of the Han dynasty from China in 108 BCE. This was the first complete occupation of Korea, with China creating four commandaries to maintain control. Eventually, the weakening of the garrisons and Han China led to a successful Korea revolt in 184 CE.
Korea First Becomes a Country
Into the vacuum left by the Chinese, almost a dozen small kingdoms became established, including the Japanese enclave of Mimana. Eventually, the three kingdoms of Paekche, Silla, and Koguryo became dominant. They shifted alliances and fought incessantly against each other. During the wars, a new force had crept into Korea. First taking Koguryo in 372 CE and then Paekche in 384, Buddhism became dominant on the Korean peninsula. Also, outsiders constantly attacked, hoping to wrest control from the Koreans themselves. China invaded the state of Wei in 244 CE and the Sui dynasty in 612 CE. Finally, the state of Silla, with an alliance with the non-Korean state of Tang, defeated all opponents. With no opponents left, the Silla kingdom of Korea began in 676 CE.
The Rise and Fall of Empire
The Silla kingdom, with its new found power, consolidated its rule and attacked the neighboring states of Tang and Palhae. Eventually the power of the Silla monarchs waned and local lords, including the Koryo family, created break-away nations within the Silla empire. Silla fell, the only Korean example, to internal strife in 935 CE.
The brief state of chaos that ensued, reminiscent to the civil wars of China, led to the dominance and complete control of the Koryo dynasty. It was during this time that the name Korea was created and Buddhism became the official state religion. Interrupting but not destroying Koryo rule, the Mongols took control in the early 13th century. They held on until the early 14th century, when their weakened empire could not put down increasingly powerful Korean revolts. The weak Koryo dynasty held onto power until they were supplanted by the Choson family in 1392.
The Choson, or Yi, family now held near-complete power over Korea. Yet, the shadow of China stretched over Korea. Korea was forced, for the first time, to recognize the overlordship of another nation and voluntarily pay tribute. In return, Korea maintained autonymy in its internal affairs. The country prospered until the devastating invasions of Japanese Shogun Hideyoshi in 1592 to 1597. The Korean people and navy, with little Chinese assistance, ejected the invaders. Korea remained China’s eastern buffer until, in 1636, they shifted their allegiance to the Manchus of Manchuria, who were recently touring Korea with 30,000 troops. When the Manchus took over China, Korea was again paying homage to the imperial throne of China.
Isolation Gained and Lost
Giving up on the rest of the world, Korea became extremely isolationist toward everyone but China. Korea was given the name “Hermit Kingdom” in the 19th century. Korea focused on improving itself. A new alphabet was created in 1443 to suit the Korean language and Confucianism began to make significant strides in the country. This situation of national introversion was changed when Japanese warships forcibly opened Korea to the world. The following decades saw China, Japan, and Russia positioning themselves over dominance of Korea. Japan triumphed after defeating China in the 1890s and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, making Korea its protectorate until formal annexation in 1910.
Japan attempted to make Korea an integral part of the Japanese empire. Their economies were integrated, at the Koreans’ expense, and Korean language and culture were suppressed. As was usual to the Koreans, they revolted. In 1919, the Independence Movement, while failing, gave the Japanese a few problems. Not the least of these problems was the creation of a provisional government in exile under Syngman Rhee. Unfortunately, Korean interests were ignored at both the 1919 Paris peace conference, cementing Japanese control, and the 1945 Yalta conference, where Korea was planned to divided into four protective zones after the war. Yet, the sudden collapse of Japanese forces led to the 38th parallel compromise, a temporary partition where the Soviet Union would take the north and the United States the south.
North v. South
After the war, the United States and United Nations wanted to withdraw from Korea and let an elected Korean government take over. The Soviet Union resisted and set up their own Communist regime under Kim Il Sung. The United Nations set up free elections in the south that brought Syngman Rhee. Both sides claimed the right to control the entire peninsula and were overtly hostile to each other. Yet, without American support, Rhee could not launch an invasion of North Korea. Sung managed to gain Stalin and Mao’s support, and he attacked in 1950, starting the Korean War. President Truman of the United States, fearing the spread of Communism, acted under the aegis of his containment policy to send in the troops. Also, the Soviet walkout in the United Nations allowed the United States to obtain official UN support and troops in support.
The allied army, predominantly South Korean and American but under absolute American command, drove the North Koreans back, only to have the Chinese army attack. Finally, in 1953, peace was reached by the United States and China. In the end, both Koreas together lost over 2 million people. Also, the entire industrial infastructure of North Korea was destroyed by the U.S. Air Force.
Sung’s Communist dictatorship, poor and militant, remained tied to its fellow Communist nations and, thereby, relatively isolationist. South Korea prospered through its close ties to the United States, in return for following the directives of American foreign policy. Yet, Korean nationalism remained alive. Despite previously trying to destroy each other, north and south met for historic negotiations in 1972. Further, South Korea began international relations in earnest after their hosting of the 24th Olympics in 1988. In 1991, North and South Korea were simultaneously admitted to the United Nations, a body that had fought a war over their lands. Calls for Korean unification and nationalism set the scene for the 2000 negotiations in Pyong-yang as well, talks that finally reunited families separated by the Korean War.
Sources:
A History of Korea. <http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~korea/history.html>
Korea National Tourism Organization: About Korean History. <http://www.knto.or.kr/english/ekorea/ekorea02.htm>
Nation by Nation: A History of Korea. <http://www.nationbynation.com/Korea/History1.html>
Smitha’s History of the World. <http://www.fsmitha.com/index.html>
World History. Glencoe McGraw-Hill Company, 2003.
(This paper's factual data is based solely on the sources cited here. They were corollated and paraphrased into an original essay by the writer. Standard methods of obtaining this information legally were maintained at all times.)
Korea First Becomes a Country
Into the vacuum left by the Chinese, almost a dozen small kingdoms became established, including the Japanese enclave of Mimana. Eventually, the three kingdoms of Paekche, Silla, and Koguryo became dominant. They shifted alliances and fought incessantly against each other. During the wars, a new force had crept into Korea. First taking Koguryo in 372 CE and then Paekche in 384, Buddhism became dominant on the Korean peninsula. Also, outsiders constantly attacked, hoping to wrest control from the Koreans themselves. China invaded the state of Wei in 244 CE and the Sui dynasty in 612 CE. Finally, the state of Silla, with an alliance with the non-Korean state of Tang, defeated all opponents. With no opponents left, the Silla kingdom of Korea began in 676 CE.
The Rise and Fall of Empire
The Silla kingdom, with its new found power, consolidated its rule and attacked the neighboring states of Tang and Palhae. Eventually the power of the Silla monarchs waned and local lords, including the Koryo family, created break-away nations within the Silla empire. Silla fell, the only Korean example, to internal strife in 935 CE.
The brief state of chaos that ensued, reminiscent to the civil wars of China, led to the dominance and complete control of the Koryo dynasty. It was during this time that the name Korea was created and Buddhism became the official state religion. Interrupting but not destroying Koryo rule, the Mongols took control in the early 13th century. They held on until the early 14th century, when their weakened empire could not put down increasingly powerful Korean revolts. The weak Koryo dynasty held onto power until they were supplanted by the Choson family in 1392.
The Choson, or Yi, family now held near-complete power over Korea. Yet, the shadow of China stretched over Korea. Korea was forced, for the first time, to recognize the overlordship of another nation and voluntarily pay tribute. In return, Korea maintained autonymy in its internal affairs. The country prospered until the devastating invasions of Japanese Shogun Hideyoshi in 1592 to 1597. The Korean people and navy, with little Chinese assistance, ejected the invaders. Korea remained China’s eastern buffer until, in 1636, they shifted their allegiance to the Manchus of Manchuria, who were recently touring Korea with 30,000 troops. When the Manchus took over China, Korea was again paying homage to the imperial throne of China.
Isolation Gained and Lost
Giving up on the rest of the world, Korea became extremely isolationist toward everyone but China. Korea was given the name “Hermit Kingdom” in the 19th century. Korea focused on improving itself. A new alphabet was created in 1443 to suit the Korean language and Confucianism began to make significant strides in the country. This situation of national introversion was changed when Japanese warships forcibly opened Korea to the world. The following decades saw China, Japan, and Russia positioning themselves over dominance of Korea. Japan triumphed after defeating China in the 1890s and Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, making Korea its protectorate until formal annexation in 1910.
Japan attempted to make Korea an integral part of the Japanese empire. Their economies were integrated, at the Koreans’ expense, and Korean language and culture were suppressed. As was usual to the Koreans, they revolted. In 1919, the Independence Movement, while failing, gave the Japanese a few problems. Not the least of these problems was the creation of a provisional government in exile under Syngman Rhee. Unfortunately, Korean interests were ignored at both the 1919 Paris peace conference, cementing Japanese control, and the 1945 Yalta conference, where Korea was planned to divided into four protective zones after the war. Yet, the sudden collapse of Japanese forces led to the 38th parallel compromise, a temporary partition where the Soviet Union would take the north and the United States the south.
North v. South
After the war, the United States and United Nations wanted to withdraw from Korea and let an elected Korean government take over. The Soviet Union resisted and set up their own Communist regime under Kim Il Sung. The United Nations set up free elections in the south that brought Syngman Rhee. Both sides claimed the right to control the entire peninsula and were overtly hostile to each other. Yet, without American support, Rhee could not launch an invasion of North Korea. Sung managed to gain Stalin and Mao’s support, and he attacked in 1950, starting the Korean War. President Truman of the United States, fearing the spread of Communism, acted under the aegis of his containment policy to send in the troops. Also, the Soviet walkout in the United Nations allowed the United States to obtain official UN support and troops in support.
The allied army, predominantly South Korean and American but under absolute American command, drove the North Koreans back, only to have the Chinese army attack. Finally, in 1953, peace was reached by the United States and China. In the end, both Koreas together lost over 2 million people. Also, the entire industrial infastructure of North Korea was destroyed by the U.S. Air Force.
Sung’s Communist dictatorship, poor and militant, remained tied to its fellow Communist nations and, thereby, relatively isolationist. South Korea prospered through its close ties to the United States, in return for following the directives of American foreign policy. Yet, Korean nationalism remained alive. Despite previously trying to destroy each other, north and south met for historic negotiations in 1972. Further, South Korea began international relations in earnest after their hosting of the 24th Olympics in 1988. In 1991, North and South Korea were simultaneously admitted to the United Nations, a body that had fought a war over their lands. Calls for Korean unification and nationalism set the scene for the 2000 negotiations in Pyong-yang as well, talks that finally reunited families separated by the Korean War.
Sources:
A History of Korea. <http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~korea/history.html>
Korea National Tourism Organization: About Korean History. <http://www.knto.or.kr/english/ekorea/ekorea02.htm>
Nation by Nation: A History of Korea. <http://www.nationbynation.com/Korea/History1.html>
Smitha’s History of the World. <http://www.fsmitha.com/index.html>
World History. Glencoe McGraw-Hill Company, 2003.
(This paper's factual data is based solely on the sources cited here. They were corollated and paraphrased into an original essay by the writer. Standard methods of obtaining this information legally were maintained at all times.)
