History of Korea
After the end of WWII in 1945, the Allies divided the country into a northern area (protected by the Soviets) and a southern area protected (primarily by the United States). In 1948, when the powers failed to agree on the formation of a single government, this partition became the modern states of North and South Korea. The peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel: the "Republic of Korea" was created in the south, with the backing of the US and Western Europe, and the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in the north, with the backing of the Soviets and the communist People's Republic of China. The new premier of North Korea, Kim il-Sung, launched the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the country under Communist rule. After immense material and human destruction, the conflict ended with a cease-fire in 1953. The two nations officially remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed. In 1991, both states were accepted into the United Nations.
Yi Cheol-seung
Lee Chul-seung (or Yi Cheol-seung, Lee Chul-sung or Lee Chul Sung) (Hangul:, Hanja:李哲承; May 15, 1922 – February 27, 2016) was a South Korean 7-term National Assemblyman (lawmaker, conservative) and a founding father of the Republic of Korea after the Korean War (1950-1953). A political heavyweight, Lee was an independence and democracy fighter and leader; anti-communism; anti-military rule; anti-Japanese rule; an advocate of bipartisanship particularly when it came to national security; and an advocate of non-governmental organizations. After Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, Lee "led a student union that opposed a trusteeship, under which Korea would be governed by foreign powers after World War II, and entered politics in 1954 after winning a parliamentary seat." Lee and his two political rivals former President Kim Young-sam and former President Kim Dae-jung were famous for their political competition and the establishment and development of democracy in South Korea. He was given an honorable burial for his life contributions at the Seoul National Cemetery on March 2, 2016 where former South Korean presidents are also buried.1946