Dividing of the Korean Peninsula
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Dividing of the Korean Peninsula
The process of dividing Korea into Northern and Southern Korea began when Japan surrendered to the allies. This was at the end of the Second World War, when Japan was the colonial master in Korea. With the fall of Japan, Korean peninsula was therefore divided into two separate states: the North, which became the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K), and the South, which became the Republic of Korea (R.O.K). There have been many efforts to reunify Korea since 1950s. Despite much effort to reunify North and South Korea, reunification is hard to be achieved.
The division resulted in the agreement by the two powers that emerged after the Second World War: the U.S and the U.S.S.R. The U.S and U.S.S.R agreed to accept the surrender of Japan in Korea. They also agreed that the U.S occupy the northern part of the parallel 38 in Korea, while the U.S.S.R occupies the southern part. This occupation was to hold until Koreans formed an independent government. The process of unification of the two divisions was thwarted by the cold war in 1947. The cold war that reflected the ideological differences between the U.S and the U.S.S.R ended the ongoing negotiations to unify Korea. The political differences that existed between the people of Korea who lived in the divided zones also frustrated the unification process (Ebrey, 2009). Korea became even more polarized. In addition, the policies that were laid down by the occupational forces of the two super powers also led to more divisions.
These divisions became more pronounce when a government that was pro U.S was founded in Seoul in 1948. Three weeks after this, a government that was pro U.S.S.R was formed in Pyongyang. Further polarization came in when both of these governments claimed superiority in representing all the Koreans. This led to tension in the entire 38th parallel. Further rifts came in when North Korea invaded the South with the support of the U.S.S.R and tried to unify the two zones through force. The Southern Korea was assisted by the U.S and its partners to resist this forceful unification. In retaliation, the U.S.S.R supported the North with air surveillance and other weapons. China also intervened by assisting the North with combat troops. However, this came to a halt in 1953 with no agreement of unification. The North and the South remained divided into almost equal zones. These zones were marked by the lines of cease fire and demilitarization. To date, these lines form the boundaries between North and South.
Obstacles facing reunification of Korea
Most of the Koreans, both in the North and the South appreciate that the division that exists between the two was imposed on them by other external power. They therefore appreciate reunification of Korea in future. In most instances, reunification efforts are thwarted by the influence of other states, for example, China, Japan, United States and Russia. Reunification efforts existed since 1950s. The previous desire by the Koreans for a unified Korea was first thwarted by the Korean War in 1950 (Ch’oe, 2000). Following the Nixon shock in 1971, the North and the South Korean governments agreed on unification on 4th July, 1972. This followed an exchange visit of the partner’s capital city by each government. According to the Korean Quarterly (1972, p.58), the two governments solemnly agreed to implement the terms of the agreement. Despite outlining the steps to be followed in this reunification, the efforts never succeeded. The committees in charge of this pact were banned before they could accomplish their mission. There were also reunification efforts in the 1980s and the 1990s with no much success. In September 1990, the two prime ministers of North and South Korea met in Inter-Korean Summits held in Seoul. They agreed that the two nations engage in reconciliation, cooperation, nonaggression and peaceful exchange. These high level talks collapsed when the two nations began nuclear weapon inspections. According to Ch’oe (2000), the Korean leaders were to meet after the visit of Jimmi Carter the president of the U.S in 1994. However, this was barred by the death of Kim II. This was followed by the signing of the North-South Declaration of June 15th. In this pact, they agreed to seek new reunification in a peaceful way. This pact involved peaceful issue resolution, to encourage North Korea to do away with nuclear weapons, to promote inter Korea development, to promote social and cultural exchange between the two Koreans , and that the Lee administration to remain strongly in commitment for resolution of humanitarian issues.
The current efforts of reunification began by the signing of the North-South Joint Declaration of 15th June 2000. This was signed in August, 2000. In this pact, the South and the North Korea agreed to work towards realization of a unified Korea in future. The two countries have been marching together in the Olympics, for instance in 2000, 2004 and 2006. However, their teams compete separately. The two countries have unanimously agreed to deal with issues of human rights in North Korea universally. The Republic of Korea has also offered to provide humanitarian aid to North Korea unconditionally in an effort to foster brotherhood. In 1991, teams from both North and South Korea formed a single team for championships that were held in Japan. According to Feffer (2009), the process of reunification in Korea has begun, though it is slow. This has been realized through reconciliation cooperation in economic development in both South and North Korea. Feffer (2009), asserts that reunification in Korea can be achieved by integration of North and South or by collapse of North Korea. However, the current relations between the North and the South remain strained, especially after the alleged sinking of the ROKS Cheonan, which had 46 of its crew die. This was blamed on North Korea, which has since denied it. The efforts to reunite Korea have also become blurred with the death of Kim Jong-il and the coming of Kim Jong-un in December 17, 2011. The commitment of Kim to this reunification is not clear.
References
Ch’oe, Y,. Bary W,. De, M , & Peter, H. (2000). Sources of Korean Culture: From the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Century. Vol. 2. New York: Columbia Univ., 2000. 425. Print.
Ebrey, P. (2009). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History, 2nd Ed. Houghton: Mifflin Harcourt.
Feffer, J. (June 9, 2005). “Korea’s slow-motion reunification”. Boston Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/06/09/koreas_slow_motion_reunification/.
Korean Quarterly (1972) 14:3:pp.58-60
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