South Korea–United States relations
Following Japanese surrender at the end of the Second World War, the Allied Powers divided the Korean peninsula along the 38th Parallel with two occupation zones with the United States in the south, and the Soviet Union in the north that would later become North Korea. On August 15, 1948, the southern half of Korea declared independence as the Republic of Korea with Syngman Rhee as president. The United States recognized the Republic of Korea as an independent state on January 1, 1949 and diplomatic relations between two countries were established on March 25 in the following year.
Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel escalated into open warfare when the North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. The Korean War broke out when North Korea invaded South Korea. In response, 16 member countries of the United Nations, including the United States, came to the defense of South Korea. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War with extensive deployment of American and other troops.
Demographics of North Korea
According to "The World Factbook", North Korea is racially homogeneous and contains a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese. The 2008 census listed two nationalities: Korean (%) and Other (%). Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910, in which the Korean Peninsula was occupied by Japanese. In 1945, when Japan was defeated in World War II, Korea was divided into two occupied zones: North occupied by the Soviet Union and the South by the United States. Negotiations on unification failed, and in 1948 two separate countries were formed: North and South Korea.