History of South Korea
On August 15, 1948, the Republic of Korea was formally established, with Rhee Syngman as the first president. With the establishment of Rhee's government, de jure sovereignty also passed into the new government. On September 9, 1948, a communist regime, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), was proclaimed under Kim Il-sung. However, on December 12, 1948, by its resolution 195 in the Third General Assembly, the United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea.
Korean diaspora
Korea gained its independence after the Surrender of Japan in 1945 after World War II but was divided into North and South. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, ethnic Koreans in China ("Joseonjok" or "Chaoxianzu") became officially recognised as one of the 56 ethnic groups of the country. They are considered to be one of the "major minorities". Their population grew to about 2 million; they stayed mostly in northeastern China, where their ancestors had initially settled. Their largest population was concentrated in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in Jilin, where they numbered 854,000 in 1997.