In Depth Look at Korea
Korea
Death, destruction, loved ones lost, and separation are all phrases commonly heard in North and South Korea for over the last fifty years. The division of this Asian peninsula into the independent nations of North Korea and South Korea brought terror and torment to the people living there. But now in a new era, words like hope, peace, and reunification can be heard from these same people. Reunification seems to be the most logical course of action to heal the rift at the 38th parallel. The healing process will take time, but it has begun. However knowing the process of how it may be resolved will do no good without knowing how it all went wrong.
Japan’s interest in Korea led them to attack the Russians at Port Arthur on February 8th, 1904. This was the start of the Russo-Japanese War. Russia lost the war in 1905. Japans victory over Russia proved to the world that Japan was a world power and allowed them to gain control of Korea in 1910 (www.russojapan.com). The Japanese “began exploiting its resources, while also attempting to eliminate the Korean language, names and national identity” (www.cnn.com). The treatment of the Koreans by the Japanese was comparable to the treatment of African Americans during the pre-Civil War era. In 1919 Japan’s abuse of the Koreans led to the “March First Movement”, a demonstration that ended with the death of thousands of innocent Koreans. During World War II, Koreans were forced into labor by their Japanese oppressors. Japan’s downfall in WWII allowed the United States of America and the U.S.S.R. to occupy Korea (www.cnn.com). The US located troops in the south and U.S.S.R. did so in the north. The cold war split the peninsula of Korea in two, with the U.S.S.R. establishing a communist government in the north, and the United States establishing a capitalistic democratic government in the south. On August 15th 1945 Korea was divided at the 38th parallel of north latitude (Loyd). This caused the separation of many families. In 1947 The UN General Assembly declared that a single government would be elected for the entire nation. The Soviet Union would not allow elections in the north, but the south elected to have somewhat democratic national assembly and became...