When did South Korea become a republic?
List of ambassadors of Russia to South Korea
This is a List of Ambassadors from Russia to South Korea. The Russian Empire established relations with the Joseon Dynasty in 1884. However Korea was deprived of its right to conduct independent foreign policy by the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1905, while the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the eventual successor to the Russian Empire) did not formally recognise Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in exile. In 1948, three years after the end of Japanese rule in Korea, the USSR recognised only one government on the Korean peninsula—the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly North Korea. In September 1990, towards the end of its existence, the USSR established relations with the Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea).
Day of the Foundation of the Republic (North Korea)
Following the Liberation of Korea in 1945 by the Soviet and American forces, a communist Soviet military regime was set up in the northern part of Korea. A new Supreme People's Assembly was elected in August 1948, and on 3 September a new constitution was promulgated. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed on 9 September, with Kim Il-sung as Premier. Because the date is 9 September, it is also called 9 · 9 (old version).
Declaration of war
The UN became a combatant itself after North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, which begun the Korean War. The UN Security Council condemned the North Korean action by a 9–0 resolution (with the Soviet Union absent) and called upon its member nations to come to the aid of South Korea. The United States and 15 other nations formed a "UN force" to pursue this action. In a press conference on 29 June 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman characterized these hostilities as not being a "war" but a "police action".
Constitution of South Korea
The Constitution of the Republic of Korea () is the basic law of South Korea. It was promulgated on July 17, 1948, and was last revised on October 29, 1987.
Korean War
Postwar recovery was different in the two Koreas. South Korea stagnated in the first postwar decade. In 1953, South Korea and the United States signed a Mutual Defense Treaty. In 1960, the April Revolution occurred and students joined an anti-Syngman Rhee demonstration; 142 were killed by police; in consequence Syngman Rhee resigned and left for exile in the United States. Park Chung-hee's May 16 coup enabled social stability. In the 1960s, prostitution and related services represented 25 percent of South Korean GNP. From 1965 to 1973, South Korea dispatched troops to Vietnam and received $235,560,000 in allowance and military procurement from the United States. GNP increased fivefold during the Vietnam War. South Korea industrialized and modernized. Contemporary North Korea remains underdeveloped. South Korea had one of the world's fastest-growing economies from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. In 1957 South Korea had a lower per capita GDP than Ghana, and by 2010 it was a developed country and ranked thirteenth in the world (Ghana was 86th).
History of South Korea
The resolution from the UN General Assembly called for a UN-supervised general election in Korea, but after the North rejected this proposition, a general election for a Constitutional Assembly took place in the South only, in May 1948. A constitution was adopted, setting forth a presidential form of government and specifying a four-year term for the presidency. According to the provisions of the Constitution, an indirect presidential election took place in July. Rhee Syngman, as head of the new assembly, assumed the presidency and proclaimed the Republic of Korea (South Korea) on August 15, 1948.
Korean Peninsula
Until the end of World War II, Korea was a single political entity whose territory roughly coincided with the Korean Peninsula. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Imperial Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, and liberated Korea north of the 38th parallel. U.S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was divided into two regions, with separate governments. Both claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—moved into the south on 25 June 1950. Since the ended the Korean War in 1953, the northern section of the peninsula has been governed by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while the southern portion has been governed by the Republic of Korea.
List of Presidents of South Korea
Three of the Governments proclaimed in 1919 continued to be active in the months after the March 1st Movement; the Governments proclaimed in Seoul, Shanghai and Vladivostok. After a period of negotiations, members of these three governments agreed to form the unified Provisional Government in Shanghai, with succession of the legitimacy of the Seoul Government and bringing the members of the Vladivostok legislature into the Shanghai legislature. The unified Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established on 11 September 1919 with a new constitution.
Korean nationalist historiography
The surrender of Japan at the end of World War II handed Korea its independence, but the peninsula was immediately divided into ideologically opposed regimes in North and South Korea. At first, Marxist historians focusing on class analysis dominated historical writing in the north, whereas Syngman Rhee's staunchly anti-Communist government (1948–1960) also made the notion of "minjok" less central to historiography in the south. In North Korea class analysis was displaced by nationalist analysis in the 1950s, soon after the Korean War. In South Korea, the fall of the Rhee regime in 1960 and the anti-Japan protests triggered by the normalization of diplomatic ties with Japan in 1965 also reinstated the "minjok" as a "unifying framework" for developing an anti-colonial historiography. Since then, historical studies in both North and South have displayed a "pervasive and intense nationalistic tone" despite ideological differences between the two countries. This shared historical outlook has served as a backdrop to North Korea–South Korea relations, as in June 2000 when both Korean heads of state stated that Korean unification was a historical imperative.
Coup d'état of December Twelfth
The Coup d'état of December Twelfth and the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth ended the Fourth Republic of South Korea and led to the Fifth Republic of South Korea.
South Korea
South Korea maintains diplomatic relations with more than 188 countries. The country has also been a member of the United Nations since 1991, when it became a member state at the same time as North Korea. On January 1, 2007, Former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon served as UN Secretary-General from 2007 to 2016. It has also developed links with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations as both a member of "ASEAN Plus three," a body of observers, and the East Asia Summit (EAS).
History of Korea
In December 1945, a conference convened in Moscow to discuss the future of Korea. A 5-year trusteeship was discussed, and a joint Soviet-American commission was established. The commission met intermittently in Seoul but members deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government. In September 1947, with no solution in sight, the United States submitted the Korean question to the United Nations General Assembly. On December 12, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations recognised the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea.
Citizenship in North Korea
North Korea adopted a nationality law in 1963: 15 years after being founded on September 9, 1948. It has since been revised in 1995 and 1999. The nationality law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) governs who is a citizen of the DPRK, and how one may gain or lose such citizenship. It prescribes citizenship qualifications, citizen rights, and citizen protections. While containing just 16 articles, it covers most of the basic features which can be found across modern citizenship legislation in other nations. Furthermore, North Korean nationality law incorporates anyone who resided in the country since the foundation of the DPRK. This includes varied groups due to the DPRK's annexation by Japan and the United States, occupation by the Soviet Union and final surrender to the Allies in 1945. The law assumes that people registered in North Korea became nationals of North Korea.
History of South Korea
Roh Tae-woo became president for the 13th presidential term in the first direct presidential election in 16 years. Although Roh was from a military background and one of the leaders of Chun's coup d'état, the inability of the opposition leaders Kim Dae Jung and Kim Young Sam to agree on a unified candidacy, led to his being elected. The first female presidential candidate, Hong Sook-ja, even withdrew from the race in order to back Kim Young Sam against Roh.Roh was officially inaugurated in February 1988. The government set out to eliminate past vestiges of authoritarian rule, by revising laws and decrees to fit democratic provisions. Freedom of the press was expanded, university autonomy recognised, and restrictions on overseas travels were lifted. However, the growth of the economy had slowed down compared to the 1980s, with strong labor unions and higher wages reducing the competitiveness of Korean products on the international market, resulting in stagnant exports, while commodity prices kept on rising.
Supreme Council for National Reconstruction
The Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, initially named the Military Revolutionary Committee, was a military junta that oversaw the government of South Korea from May 16, 1961 until the inauguration of the Third Republic of South Korea in 1963. It was composed largely of military officers who were involved in or supportive of the May 16 coup which overthrew the Second Republic of South Korea. The council was chaired initially by Chang Do-yong, and subsequently by Park Chung-hee. The president of the Second Republic, Yun Po-sun, stayed in office as a figurehead.
Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion
After Imperial Japan surrendered to Allied forces on 15 August 1945, the 35-year Japanese occupation of Korea finally came to an end. Korea was subsequently divided at the 38th parallel north, with the Soviet Union assuming trusteeship north of the line and the United States south of the line. In September 1945, Lt. General John R. Hodge established a military government to administer the southern region, which included Jeju Island and the areas in South Jeolla around Yeosu and Suncheon. In December 1945 U.S. representatives met with those from the Soviet Union and United Kingdom to work out joint trusteeship. Due to lack of consensus, however, the U.S. took the “Korean question” to the United Nations for further deliberation. On November 14, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed UN Resolution 112, calling for a general election on May 10, 1948 under UNTCOK supervision.
Foreign relations of Taiwan
The ROC recognized the formal establishment of the First Republic of Korea in 1948. On 4 January 1949, the ROC set up an embassy in Myeongdong in Seoul. The ROC considers the ROK government as the sole legitimate representative of the Korean Peninsula. On 23 August 1992 South Korea severed diplomatic relations with the ROC and then established diplomatic relations with the PRC as part of its Nordpolitik, the last Asian country to switch .
Shin Hyun-hwak
Hyun-hwak was the South Korean minister of Health and Social affairs between 1975 and 1978, becoming Deputy Prime Minister of South Korea in 1978. While Deputy Prime Minister, he was also minister for the economic planning board. Following the assassination of Park Chung-hee, Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah became acting President of South Korea. On December 13th 1979, Hyun-hwak was appointed as Prime Minister of South Korea, as part of the Coup d'état of December Twelfth. Following the coup, Choi Kyu-hah repealed a decree banning criticism of the constitution, as well as releasing dissidents from prison. Following the Coup d'état of May Seventeenth, Hyun-hwak was deposed on 21st May 1980, in the events that lead to the dissolution of the Fourth Republic of Korea and creation of the Fifth Republic of Korea.
South Korea
The history of Korea begins with the founding of Joseon (also known as "Gojoseon", or Old Joseon, to differentiate it with the 14th century dynasty) in 2333 BCE by Dangun, according to Korea's foundation mythology. Gojoseon expanded until it controlled the northern Korean Peninsula and parts of Manchuria. Gija Joseon was purportedly founded in the 12th century BC, but its existence and role have been controversial in the modern era. In 108 BCE, the Han dynasty defeated Wiman Joseon and installed four commanderies in the northern Korean peninsula. Three of the commanderies fell or retreated westward within a few decades. As Lelang commandery was destroyed and rebuilt around this time, the place gradually moved toward Liaodong. Thus, its force was diminished and it only served as a trade center until it was conquered by Goguryeo in 313.
North Korea–Somalia relations
Diplomatic relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (commonly known as North Korea) and Somalia were formally established on 13 April 1967. This late-1950s to 1960s period was when North Korea had first declared autonomous diplomacy.
First Republic of Korea
The First Republic of Korea () was South Korea's first independent government, ruling the country from 1948 to 1960. It succeeded USAMGIK, the United States military government, which ruled the area from 1945 to 1948. The Philippines recognized South Korea on 15 August 1948. The First Republic was established on August 15, 1948, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. Like subsequent governments, it claimed sovereignty over the entire Korean Peninsula, although it only had power over the area south of the 38th parallel. The investiture of the Rhee government followed the general election of May 10, 1948. The country's first constitution had been promulgated by the first National Assembly on July 17. It established a system with a strong president, who was elected indirectly by the National Assembly. The April Revolution in 1960 led to the resignation of Syngman Rhee and the transition to the Second Republic of South Korea.
Botswana–South Korea relations
Botswana–South Korea relations () are the current and historical relationship between Botswana and the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly known as South Korea. The two countries established diplomatic relations on 18 April 1968. Since 2014, following the withdrawal of diplomatic relations with North Korea due to human rights violations, Botswana has recognized South Korea as the only legitimate government of the Korean peninsula.
History of Japan–Korea relations
[[Kim Il-sung]] led a [[Korean independence movement]], which was active in the border areas of China and Russia, particularly in areas with considerable ethnic Korean populations. Kim founded [[North Korea]], and his descendants have still not signed a peace treaty with Japan. The [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea]], led by (later) South Korea's first president [[Syngman Rhee]], moved from Shanghai to [[Chongqing]]. Lee lobbied in the United States and was recognized by the South Korean administrator by [[Douglas MacArthur]]. Japanese control of Korea ended on September 9, 1945 when the Japanese [[Governor-General of Korea]] signed the surrender document of the United States in Seoul.
Korean Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is the statement adopted by the 33 racial representatives meeting at Taehwagwan, Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul on March 1, 1919, after World War I, which announced that the Korea would no longer be under Japanese rule.
Japan–Korea disputes
Kim Il-sung led a Korean independence movement, which was active in the border areas of China and Russia, particularly in areas with considerable ethnic Korean populations. Kim founded North Korea, and his descendants have still not signed a peace treaty with Japan. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, led by (later) South Korea's first president Syngman Rhee, moved from Shanghai to Chongqing. Lee lobbied in the United States and was recognized by the South Korean administrator by Douglas MacArthur. Japanese control of Korea ended on September 9, 1945, when the Governor-General of Korea signed the surrender document of the United States in Seoul.
History of South Korea
Parliamentary elections followed shortly after the presidential election where the opposition party garnered most of the seats, giving them the power to pass constitutional amendments. Park, feeling threatened, declared a state of national emergency on December 6, 1971. In the midst of this domestic insecurity, the Nixon Doctrine had eased tensions among the world superpowers on the international scene, which caused a dilemma for Park, who had justified his regime based on the state policy of anti-communism. In a sudden gesture, the government proclaimed a joint communiqué for reunification with North Korea on July 4, 1972, and held Red Cross talks in Seoul and Pyongyang. However, there was no change in government policy regarding reunification, and on October 17, 1972, Park declared martial law, dissolving the National Assembly and suspending the constitution.
May 16 coup
After rigged elections in March 1960, growing protests developed into the April Revolution, and Rhee was pressured by the United States into a peaceful resignation on April 26. With Rhee out of the way, a new constitution was promulgated establishing the Second Republic, and legislative elections on June 29 resulted in a landslide victory for the Democratic Party, with Rhee's Liberals reduced to a mere two seats in the newly constituted lower house of the National Assembly. The Democrat Yun Bo-seon was elected as figurehead president in August, and Chang Myon, former Vice-President, took over as Prime Minister with executive authority under the parliamentary republican system established by the new constitution.
The Second Republic was beset with problems from the start, with bitter factionalism in the ruling Democratic Party competing with implacable popular unrest for the government's attention. The South Korean economy deteriorated under heavy inflation and high rates of unemployment, while recorded crime rates more than doubled; from December 1960 to April 1961, for example, the price of rice increased by 60 percent, while unemployment remained above 23%. Widespread food shortages resulted. Chang Myon, meanwhile, representing the Democratic Party's "New Faction", had been elected Prime Minister by the thin margin of three votes. Purges of Rhee's appointees were rendered ineffective in the public eye by Chang's manipulation of the suspect list to favour wealthy businessmen and powerful generals. Although Rhee had been removed and a democratic constitution instituted, the "liberation aristocrats" remained in power, and the worsening problems facing South Korea were proving insurmountable for the new government.
South Korea–Taiwan relations
The Sixth Republic of South Korea furthered the Miracle on the Han River to the Economy of South Korea and opened diplomacy to Communist Nations (including building the foundation of Inter-Korean relations and accepting co-existence with North Korea by entering the United Nations ). Seoul also hosted the 1988 Summer Olympics. President Roh Tae-woo's next political ambition was to begin implementing Realpolitik with the neighboring countries in Northeast Asia.
South Korea's movement away from anti-communist foreign policy to improve relations with nearby communist countries resulted in a deterioration of relations with ROC. This change was introduced to appease North Korea and ease the political anxiety and softens military tension in the Korean Peninsula; Korea hoped to enable the possibility of a peaceful reunification in the Korean peninsula. As normalization began, ROK transferred diplomatic recognition from ROC to the PRC, and confiscated the property of the ROC embassy, transferring it to the PRC. Taiwan is a member of Property Rights Alliance. On 17 September 1991, the PRC withdrew its objection to South Korean membership in the United Nations. Republic of Korea was the last Asian country with formal diplomatic relations with ROC.
Korea
In 1897, the Joseon dynasty proclaimed the Korean Empire (1897–1910). King Gojong became an emperor. During this brief period, Korea had some success in modernizing the military, economy, real property laws, education system, and various industries. Russia, Japan, France, and the United States all invested in the country and sought to influence it politically.
Constitution of South Korea
The Provisional Charter of Korea is the first constitution of Korean Provisional Government, which was promulgated in 1919. It made the name of the country as ‘Republic of Korea’, and it is made up of the preamble of 10 articles. The provisional charter of Korea became the primary spirit of current Constitution, which is stipulated in the preamble of Constitution of South Korea.
Jo So-ang
He ran for a representative of the national assembly and was elected in 1950. In the same year when the Korean war broke out, he was abducted and taken to North Korea.
Jo So-ang served roles in the national government, the political structure of the Provisional Government, and in public relations. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established on April 13, 1919, following the March 1st movement. The interim government resisted Japan’s colonial rule of Korea and supported the Korean independence movement. In the midst of dividing political alliances, Jo So-ang remained loyal to the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea and was elected as their secretary and diplomatic correspondent. Making him in charge of the interim government’s remittances, propaganda, and public relations work. In May 1919, Jo traveled to Europe in order to attend the International Socialist Conference to appeal international support and recognition for South Korea's independence movement. In March 1921, after attending the Communist Party Congress in Moscow, Russia, he returned to Beijing with critical views on communism. Jo would incorporate his views and experience with communism when writing his political theories and teachings.
Provinces of Korea
With the liberation of Korea in 1945, the Korean peninsula was divided into Northern Korea and Southern Korea under trusteeship from Soviet Union and America, with the dividing line established along the 38th parallel. As a result, three provinces—Hwanghae, Gyeonggi, and Gangwon (Kangwŏn)—were divided into North Korea and South Korea today.
History of South Korea
Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of the Empire of Japan to the Allied Powers on 15 August 1945. General Order No. 1 for the surrender of Japan (prepared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of U.S. military forces and approved on 17 August 1945) prescribed separate surrender procedures for Japanese forces in Korea north and south of the 38th parallel. After Japan's surrender to the Allies (formalised on 2 September 1945), division at the 38th parallel marked the beginning of Soviet and U.S. occupation the North and South, respectively. This division was meant to be temporary, to be replaced by a trusteeship of the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China which would prepare for Korean independence. The trusteeship had been discussed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. U.S. forces landed at Incheon on September 8, 1945 and established a military government shortly thereafter. Lt. General John R. Hodge, their commander, took charge of the government. Faced with mounting popular discontent, in October 1945 Hodge established the Korean Advisory Council. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which had operated from China, sent a delegation with three interpreters to Hodge, but he refused to meet with them. Likewise, Hodge refused to recognize the newly formed People's Republic of Korea and its People's Committees, and outlawed it on 12 December. A year later, an interim legislature and interim government were established, headed by Kim Kyu-shik and Rhee Syngman respectively. Political and economic chaos - arising from a variety of causes - plagued the country in this period. The after-effects of the Japanese exploitation remained in the South, as in the North. In addition, the U.S. military was largely unprepared for the challenge of administering the country, arriving with no knowledge of the language, culture or political situation. Thus many of their policies had unintended destabilizing effects. Waves of refugees from North Korea and returnees from abroad added to the turmoil.
History of South Korea
Kim Young-sam was elected president in the 1992 elections after Roh's tenure. He was the country's first civilian president in 30 years and promised to build a "New Korea". The government set out to correct the mistakes of the previous administrations. Local government elections were held in 1995, and parliamentary elections in 1996. In a response to popular demand, former presidents Chun and Roh were both indicted on charges linked to bribery, illegal funds, and in the case of Chun, responsibility for the incident in Gwangju. They were tried and sentenced to prison in December, 1996.
Korea and the United Nations
The Republic of Korea (commonly known as "South Korea") and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (commonly known as "North Korea") were simultaneously admitted to the United Nations (UN) in 1991. On 8 August 1991, the UN Security Council passed United Nations Security Council Resolution 702, recommending both states to the UN General Assembly for membership. On 17 September 1991, the General Assembly admitted both countries under Resolution 46/1.
Korean nationalism
Korean reunification (Korean: 남북통일) refers to the hypothetical future reunification of North Korea and South Korea under a single government. South Korea had adopted a sunshine policy towards the North that was based on the hope that one day, the two countries would be re-united in the 1990s. The process towards this was started by the historic June 15th North–South Joint Declaration in August 2000, where the two countries agreed to work towards a peaceful reunification in the future. However, there are a number of hurdles in this process due to the large political and economic differences between the two countries and other state actors such as China, Russia, and the United States. Short-term problems such as a large number of refugees from the North migrating into the South and initial economic and political instability would need to be overcome.
North Korea–United States relations
On September 9, 1948, Kim Il-sung declared the Democratic People's Republic of Korea; he promptly received diplomatic recognition from the Soviet Union, but not the United States. The U.S. did not extend, and has never extended, diplomatic recognition to the DPRK. Kim Il-Sung's anti-American rhetoric often asserted that the U.S. was a capitalist imperialist successor to Japan, a view the country still holds today. In December 1950, the United States initiated economic sanctions against the DPRK under the Trading with the Enemy Act, which lasted until 2008.
38th parallel north
Japan had occupied the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945. When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the 38th parallel was established as the boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones. This parallel divided the Korean peninsula roughly in the middle. In 1948, this parallel became the boundary between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), both of which claim to be the government of the whole of Korea. On 25 June 1950, after a series of cross-border raids and gunfire from both the Northern and the Southern sides, the North Korean Army crossed the parallel and invaded South Korea. This sparked a United Nations resolution against the aggression and the Korean War, with United Nations troops (mostly Americans) helping to defend South Korea.
Coup d'état of May Seventeenth
On October 26, 1979, the former president of South Korea of the time, Park Chung-hee, was assassinated by the leader of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA). Following the death of the former president, South Korea entered a state of transition. Times prior to the death of Park Chung-hee, was void of democracy and South Korea was an autocratic state. After the assassination, a revision to change South Korea into a nation of democracy was attempted to be implemented. Choi Kyu-hah, who was the prime minister of the time, became the successor of Park Chung-hee and was appointed the role of acting president. With Choi Kyu-ha in power, restricting regulations of the rule of Park Chung-hee were repealed and opposition leaders and activists, such as Kim Dae-jung, were freed from restraint. Choi Kyu-ha later became the official president of South Korea on December 6, 1979. Despite the attempt to change South Korea from an autocratic state to a democratic nation, the already established ideals stemming from the Yushin Constitution, such as martial law and dictatorial rule, was failed to be abolished and an authoritarian rule of the military remained.
Syngman Rhee
On July 20, 1948, Rhee was elected president of the Republic of Korea in the South Korean presidential election, 1948 with 92.3% of the vote; the second candidate, Kim Gu, received 6.7% of the vote. On August 15, the Republic of Korea was formally established in South Korea and Rhee was inaugurated as the first President of the Republic of Korea. The next month, on September 9, the north also proclaimed statehood as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Rhee himself had been an independence activist, and his relations with the "chinilpa" Korean elites who had collaborated with the Japanese were, in the words of the South Korean historian Kyung Moon Hwang, often "contentious," but in the end an understanding was reached in which, in exchange for their support, Rhee would not purge the elites. In particular, the Koreans who had served in the colonial-era National Police, whom the Americans had retained after August 1945, were promised by Rhee that their jobs would not be threatened by him. Upon independence in 1948, 53% of South Korean police officers were men who had served in the National Police during the Japanese occupation.
Republic Day
On 28 December 2012, the South Sudanese president declared the country a republic nation.
Fourth Republic of Korea
The Fourth Republic () was the government of South Korea between 1972 and 1981, regulated by the Yusin Constitution adopted in October 1972 and confirmed in a referendum on 21 November 1972. From 1972 to 1979, power was monopolized by Park Chung Hee and his Democratic Republican Party under the highly centralized authoritarian "Yusin System". With the assassination of Park on 26 October 1979, the Republic entered a period of tumult and transition under the short-lived nominal presidency of Choi Kyu-hah, controlled under severe escalating martial law and witnessing the coup d'état of December Twelfth, the violent unfolding of the Gwangju Democratization Movement and its armed suppression, the coup d'état of May Seventeenth and presidency of Chun Doo-hwan, and finally the transition to the Fifth Republic under Chun in 1981.
South Korea–Taiwan relations
The People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949 following the Chinese Civil War and Republic of Korea maintained relations with the Republic of China (ROC), whose government relocated to Taiwan. The United Nations condemned North Korea's military aggression against Republic of Korea in United Nations Security Council Resolution 82 and United Nations Security Council Resolution 84. The ROC voted in favor of both United Nations resolutions. During the Korean War, the ROC supplied material aid to ROK, while the People's Republic of China gave North Korea combatants to support the People's Volunteer Army.
First Republic of Korea
On January 18, 1952, Rhee declared South Korean sovereignty over the waters around the Korean Peninsula, in a concept similar to that of today's exclusive economic zones. The maritime demarcation thus drawn up, which Rhee called the "Peace Line", included Liancourt Rocks as South Korean territory.
Hong Jin-ki
After joining Syngman Rhee Government, Hong Jin-ki served as the Justice Deputy Minister in 1954, and then the Minister of Justice in 1958, and became the Home Office Minister in 1960.
A growing civil uprising against the rigged election in March 1960 ended up developing into the April Revolution, and Syngman Rhee went out of his office on 26 April 1960; Rhee was pressured by the United States Government into an immediate resignation. On 15 June 1960, the Second Republic, led by Yoon Bo-seon (the 4th President of South President) and Chang Myon (the 2nd Prime Minister of South Korea), was established by the new constitution. Upon the inauguration of the new government, it was shown that there were many problems with economic climate. Eventually, the powerless and incompetent Second Republic was ended by a military government under the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction. At the instigation of the military junta, the Revolution Tribunals were established for punishing political offenders, political henchmen, illicit fortune amassers and high-ranking officials relating to armed crackdown during April Revolution.
South Korea
The Korean War began in June 1950 when forces from North Korea invaded South Korea. The war lasted three years and involved the U.S., China, the Soviet Union and several other nations. The border between the two nations remains the most heavily fortified in the world. Under long-time military leader Park Chung-hee, the South Korean economy grew significantly and the country was transformed into a G-20 major economy. Military rule ended in 1987, and the country is now a presidential republic consisting of 17 administrative divisions.
History of socialism
While war raged in China, two post-occupation governments established themselves next door, in Korea. In 1948, Syngman Rhee was proclaimed president of the Republic of Korea (South Korea), at Seoul, while the Communist Workers Party of North Korea in the north proclaimed the establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).
History of South Korea
After the student revolution, power was briefly held by an interim administration under the foreign minister Heo Jeong. A new parliamentary election was held on July 29, 1960. The Democratic Party, which had been in the opposition during the First Republic, easily gained power and the Second Republic was established. The revised constitution dictated the Second Republic to take the form of a parliamentary cabinet system where the President took only a nominal role. This was the first and the only instance South Korea turned to a parliamentary cabinet system instead of a presidential system. The assembly elected Yun Bo-seon as President and Chang Myon as the prime minister and head of government in August, 1960.
History of Seoul
After World War II and Korea's liberation, the city took its present name of "Seoul". When the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was declared, the new state adopted the city as its capital. In 1949, Seoul administrative area expanded to Ui-dong to the north, and Guro-dong and Daerim-dong to the south, recombining some areas which were annexed from original Seoul to Goyang County in 1914.
Outline of South Korea
History of South Korea
Names of Korea
Korea became independent after World War II (1945) and the country was then divided.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Korea)
Korea's history during the last 60 years as it transitioned from a colony to a democracy has been filled with violence, war, and civil disputes. With Japan's defeat in World War II in 1945, Korea was divided in two at the 38th parallel, with administration of the north side given to the Soviet Union, while the south side was administered by the United States (see Gwangbokjeol). In 1948, two separate governments formed, each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.
Politics of South Korea
The politics of the Republic of Korea takes place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President is the head of state, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature and comprises a Supreme Court, appellate courts and a Constitutional Court. Since 1948, the constitution has undergone five major revisions, each signifying a new republic. The current Sixth Republic began with the last major constitutional revision in 1987.
South Africa–United Kingdom relations
The United Kingdom and the area of Southern Africa that is today known as South Africa, have had a long history with the UK playing a deeply important role in the formation of the modern Republic of South Africa. The beginning of relations between South Africa and the UK began on 31 May 1910 when the Union of South Africa was founded as a Dominion of the British Empire. From 1910 until South Africa declared itself a republic on the 31 May 1961, South Africa fought in support and as a part of the British Empire in both World War I and II.
Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea
After the Surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, figures such as Kim Gu returned. On August 15, 1948, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was dissolved. Rhee, who was the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, became the first President of the Republic of Korea in 1948. The Constitution of South Korea, which was amended in 1987, stated that the Korean people inherited the rule of the KPG.
Korean conflict
The Korean conflict is an ongoing conflict based on the division of Korea between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) and South Korea (Republic of Korea), both of which claim to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. During the Cold War, North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China and their communist allies, while South Korea was backed by the United States and its Western allies. The division of Korea by external powers occurred at the end of World War II, starting in 1945, and tensions erupted into the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. When the war ended, both countries were devastated, with utter destruction of much of the countries, but the division remained. North and South Korea continued a military standoff, with periodic clashes. The conflict survived the collapse of the Eastern Bloc of 1989 to 1991 and continues to this day.
United States Army Military Government in Korea
Following the constitutional assembly and presidential elections held in May and July 1948 respectively, the Republic of Korea was officially proclaimed on August 15, 1948. American troops finally withdrew in 1949.
Korean Empire
The Great Korean Empire () was the last independent state of a unified Korea. Proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty, the empire stood until Japan's outright annexation of Korea in August 1910. During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the Gwangmu Reform, a partial modernization and Westernization of the military, economy, land system, and education system, and of various industries.
Canada–North Korea relations
Contact between Canada and Korea dates back to the 19th century when Canadians were among the first Westerners to arrive on the Korean Peninsula. Most of them were Christian missionaries, though they branched out into other fields of work. Reverend James Scarth Gale created the Korean-English Dictionary which became the first and most essential tool for the scholarly study of Korea in the West. His translation of the Bible into Korean constituted the foundation of Korean Christianity. Another Canadian, Dr. Oliver R. Avison, was the personal physician to King Kojong and is considered the founder of modern medical knowledge in Korea. Official contact began in 1947 when Canada participated in the United Nations Commission overseeing election in Korea. Canada formally recognized the Republic of Korea in 1949 and the Democratic People's Republic in 2000.
United States in the 1950s
The war, which lasted from June 25, 1950, until the was signed on July 27, 1953, started as a civil war between communist North Korea and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). The United States, acting on behalf of the United Nations, sought to repel the North Korean invasion. A monument for the veterans of the war was not created until the 1990s. When the war began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula, due to the division of Korea by outside powers. While originally a civil war, it quickly escalated into a proxy war between the capitalist powers of the United States and its allies and the communist powers of the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. The war began when North Korea invaded South Korea.
List of ambassadors of the United Kingdom to North Korea
Under the Imperial Chinese tributary system, Korea was a tributary state to China. After the United Kingdom–Korea Treaty of 1883 British Ministers to China were appointed as "Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the Emperor of China, and also Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of Corea." Britain also appointed consul-generals to be resident in Seoul, but they were not heads of mission, as the head of mission was the minister in Peking (now Beijing). In 1898, following the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), the Korean Empire became independent of China, and Britain appointed a chargé d'affaires who became Minister Resident when the United Kingdom and Korea exchanged envoys in 1901.Under the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 Korea became a protectorate of Japan, and Britain and other countries withdrew diplomatic missions from Seoul. After World War II Japan's rule ended and Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union and United States, resulting in division of Korea between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
Workers' Party of South Korea
The party was opposed to the formation of a South Korean state. In February–March 1948 it instigated general strikes in opposition to the plans to create a separate South Korean state. On April 3, 1948 the party led a popular uprising on Jeju island, against the unilateral declaration of the foundation of the Republic of Korea. In the suppression of the revolt, thousands of islanders were killed (see Jeju massacre).
Public holidays in South Korea
These days celebrate events considered joyous to Korea. In the beginning, Independence Declaration Day (March 1) was first stipulated in 1946. After the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea in 1948, four major National Celebration Days (Independence Declaration Day, Constitution Day, Liberation Day, National Foundation Day) were provided by "The Law Concerning the National Celebration Days" (국경일에관한법률) in 1949. 
In 2005, Hangul Day became the 5th National Celebration day.
Aegukga
"Aegukga" (, ), often translated as "The Patriotic Song", is the national anthem of South Korea. It was adopted in 1948, the year the country was founded. Its music was composed in the 1930s and its lyrics date back to the 1890s. The lyrics of "Aegukga" were originally set to the music of the Scottish song "Auld Lang Syne" before Ahn Eak-tai composed a unique melody specifically for it in 1935. Before the founding of South Korea, the song's lyrics, set to the music of "Auld Lang Syne", was sung, as well as during Korea under Japanese rule by dissidents. The version set to the melody composed by Ahn Eak-tai was adopted as the national anthem of the Korean exile government, which existed during Korea's occupation by Japan from the early 1910s to the mid-1940s.
Germany–North Korea relations
After the second world war, Korea was split into two parts: North- and South Korea. The communist north under Kim Il-sung established during the Cold War diplomatic relationship with former East Germany (GDR), right after the foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on September 9, 1948.
History of South Korea
South Korea's subsequent history is marked by alternating periods of democratic and autocratic rule. Civilian governments are conventionally numbered from the First Republic of Rhee Syngman to the contemporary Sixth Republic. The First Republic, arguably democratic at its inception, became increasingly autocratic until its collapse in 1960. The Second Republic was strongly democratic, but was overthrown in less than a year and replaced by an autocratic military regime. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics were nominally democratic, but are widely regarded as the continuation of military rule. With the Sixth Republic, the country has gradually stabilized into a liberal democracy.
Constitution of South Korea
The Constitution declares South Korea a "democratic republic" (taken from Article 1 of Constitutional Charter of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea of 1919), its territory consisting of "the Korean Peninsula and its adjacent islands," and that "The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on the principles of freedom and democracy." There are disputes over what "freedom and democracy" mean in Korea, but the direct translation of the Korean word used in the constitution (자유민주적 기본질서) would be liberal democracy.
History of South Korea
In December 1945 a conference convened in Moscow to discuss the future of Korea.
A 5-year trusteeship was discussed, and a US-Soviet joint commission was established. The commission met intermittently in Seoul but deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government. In September 1947, with no solution in sight, the United States submitted the Korean question to the UN General Assembly.
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.
North Korea–Russia relations
Diplomatic relations between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK) and the Soviet Union (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, the predecessor state to the Russian Federation) were first established on October 12, 1948 shortly after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed. During the Korean War, the Korean People's Army was supported by the Soviet military forces. North Korea was founded as part of the Communist bloc, and received major Russian support. China and the Soviet Union competed for influence in North Korea during the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, as the North Korea tried to maintain good relations with both countries.
List of Presidents of South Korea
Prior to the establishment of the First Republic in 1948, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea established in Shanghai in September 1919 as the continuation of several governments proclaimed in the aftermath of March 1st Movement earlier that year coordinated Korean people's resistance against Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea. The legitimacy of the Provisional Government has been recognised and succeeded by South Korea in the latter's original Constitution of 1948 and the current Constitution of 1988. Nine people have served twenty-four terms as Heads of State (with varying titles) of the Provisional Government between September 1919 and August 1948.
Philippine recognition of South Korea
South Korea was liberated by the United States of America. After that, the Soviet Union occupies the North and United States occupies the South.
Later, The Philippines recognized that South Korea/ROK (Republic of Korea) was independent. After the recognition, North Korea invades South Korea.
This led to the Korean War.
United Nations Security Council Resolution 82
At the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula, which up to that point had been occupied by the Empire of Japan, was divided along the 38th Parallel. To the north, the Soviet Union (USSR) occupied the country, which established itself as a communist state, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under Kim Il Sung. To the south, the United States (US) occupied the country, establishing the Republic of Korea under an autocratic anti-communist leader, Syngman Rhee. As tensions rose between the US and the USSR, each government in Korea claimed it had sovereignty over the whole country.
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and lying to the east of the Asian mainland. The name "Korea" is derived from Goguryeo which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time, ruling most of the Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia, under Gwanggaeto the Great. South Korea lies in the north temperate zone and has a predominantly mountainous terrain. It comprises an estimated 51.4 million residents distributed over . Its capital and largest city is Seoul, with a population of around 10 million.
History of Japan–Korea relations
Since 1945, relations involve three states: North Korea, South Korea and Japan. Japan cut off Korea from Qing Chinese suzerainty and for Japan, a high priority in the late 19th century, fighting wars with those two countries on the issue. Japan took control of Korea with the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910. When Japan was defeated in World War II, Soviet forces took control of the North, and American forces took control of the South, with the 38th parallel as the agreed-upon dividing line. South Korea became independent as of August 15, 1945, and North Korea as of September 9, 1945. In June 1950, North Korea invaded and almost conquered South Korea, but was driven back by the United Nations command, leading South Korean, American, European and international forces. North Korea was nearly captured, with the United Nations intending to rollback Communism there. However, China entered the war, pushed the UN forces out of North Korea, and a military stalemate resulted along the lines similar to the 38th parallel. An armistice was agreed on in 1953, which is still in effect, and the cease-fire line of that year remains the boundary between North and South.
South Korea
South Korea was formally invited to become a member of the United Nations in 1991. The transition of Korean from autocracy to modern democracy was marked in 1997 by the election of Kim Dae-jung, who was sworn in as the eighth president of South Korea, on February 25, 1998. His election was significant given that he had in earlier years been a political prisoner sentenced to death (later commuted to exile). He won against the backdrop of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, where he took IMF advice to restructure the economy and the nation soon recovered its economic growth, albeit at a slower pace.
History of North Korea
During August, People's Committees sprang up across Korea, affiliated with the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence, which in September founded the People's Republic of Korea. When Soviet troops entered Pyongyang, they found a local People's Committee established there, led by veteran Christian nationalist Cho Man-sik. Unlike their American counterparts, the Soviet authorities recognized and worked with the People's Committees. By some accounts, Cho Man-sik was the Soviet government's first choice to lead North Korea.
North Korea–South Korea relations
North Korea–South Korea relations is very special with high conflicts. Originally a single nation, the two nations have been divided since the Korean War in 1953. North Korea is an one-party state run by Kim's regime. South Korea was formerly govern by one-party military dictatorships until 1987 when it held direct elections till now. Both nations claim to represent Korea. Both nations joined the United Nations in 1991 and recognized by most of the member states in the United Nations. Since 1970s, both nations start informal diplomatic dialogues in order to reduce military tensions. Since North Korea develops nuclear weapons, which raise concern by the international communities. In 2000, President of South Korea Kim Dae-jung became the first president to visit North Korea, after 55 years of North-South divisions in the peninsula.
National Liberation Day of Korea
The National Liberation Day of Korea is a holiday celebrated annually on August 15 in both North and South Korea. It commemorates Victory over Japan Day, when U.S. and Soviet forces ended the decades-long Japanese occupation of Korea. It is notable for being the only Korean public holiday celebrated by both North and South Korea.
United States involvement in regime change
As the Empire of Japan surrendered in August 1945, under the leadership of Lyuh Woon-Hyung committees throughout Korea formed to coordinate transition to Korean independence. On August 28, 1945 these committees formed the temporary national government of Korea, naming it the People's Republic of Korea (PRK) a couple of weeks later. On September 8, 1945, the United States government landed forces in Korea and thereafter established the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGK) to govern Korea south of the 38th parallel north. The USAMGK staffed the governing administration with Japanese governors and many other Japanese officials who had been part of the brutal Japanese imperial colonial government and with Koreans who had collaborated with it, which made the government unpopular and engendered popular resistance. USAMGK refused to recognize the PRK government, which had been formed to self-govern the country, and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which had been based in China during WWII and had fought against the Japanese, and then the USAMGK by military decree outlawed the PRK government. In October 1948, USAMGK sent units to attack Koreans who were seeking Korean independence, and carried out several mass atrocities, including the killing hundreds of Korean civilians on Jeju Island who were suspected of supporting those in favor of independence.
Tanks of South Korea
Despite the initial plan of a unified Korea in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, escalating Cold War antagonism between the Soviet Union and the United States eventually led to the establishment of separate governments, each with its own ideology, leading to Korea's division into two political entities in 1948: North Korea and South Korea. In the North, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla and communist activist, Kim Il-sung gained power through Soviet support. In the South, elections supervised by the United Nations were held, a Republic of Korea was declared, and Syngman Rhee inaugurated as its first president. In December, the UN General Assembly declared this "a lawful government" and "the only such government in Korea."
Philippines–South Korea relations
Leaders of the two states
Bilateral relations between South Korea and the Philippines were established on March 3, 1949 upon the recognition of Republic of Korea as a sovereign state by the Philippines. The Philippines was the fifth state to recognize the Republic of Korea and the first ASEAN country to establish relations with South Korea.
April Revolution
The April Revolution, sometimes called the April 19 Revolution or April 19 Movement, was a popular uprising in April 1960, led by labor and student groups, which overthrew the autocratic First Republic of South Korea under Syngman Rhee. It led to the resignation of Rhee and the transition to the Second Republic of South Korea. The events were touched off by the discovery in Masan Harbor of the body of a high school student killed by a tear-gas shell in demonstrations against the elections of March 1960.
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
Division of Korea
On May 10, 1948 the south held a general election. It took place amid widespread violence and intimidation, as well as a boycott by opponents of Syngman Rhee. On August 15, the "Republic of Korea" ("Daehan Minguk") formally took over power from the U.S. military, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. In the North, the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" ("Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk") was declared on September 9, with Kim Il-sung as prime minister.
South Korea
There were no formal diplomatic ties between South Korea and Japan directly after independence the end of World War II in 1945. South Korea and Japan eventually signed the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea in 1965 to establish diplomatic ties. There is heavy anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea because of a number of unsettled Japanese-Korean disputes, many of which stem from the period of Japanese occupation after the Japanese annexation of Korea. During World War II, more than 100,000 Koreans served in the Imperial Japanese Army. Korean women were coerced and forced to serve the Imperial Japanese Army as sexual slaves, called comfort women, in both Korea and throughout the Japanese war fronts.
Embassy of South Korea, Washington, D.C.
After the independence of Korea from Japanese rule in 1945, and the founding of South Korea in 1948, South Korea immediately restored normal diplomatic relationship with the United States and has since been sending ambassadors to the United States. Although Chang Myon is officially recorded as the first ambassador serving from February 1949, Chough Pyung-ok was recognized in August 1948 as the Special Representative of the President of South Korea with a personal rank of Ambassador. Chang replaced Chough in January 1949 in the same capacity, and was appointed as the first ambassador the following month.
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.
Canada–South Korea relations
Contact between Canada and the Republic of Korea date back to the 19th century when Canadians were some of the first Westerners to arrive on the Korean peninsula, a majority of whom were Christian missionaries, though they branched out into other fields of work. Rev. Canadian James S. Gale (1863-1937) created the Korean-English Dictionary which became the first and most essential tool for the scholarly study of Korea in the West; and did an independent translation of the Bible into the Korean language. Another Canadian, Dr. Oliver R. Avison, was the personal physician to King Kojong (1852-1919) and is considered the founder of modern medical knowledge in Korea. Official contact began in 1947 when Canada participated in the United Nations Commission overseeing election in Korea, and Canada formally recognized the Republic of Korea in 1949.
South Korea
Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the "Republic of Korea" (/, IPA: , ; ) was adopted as the legal English name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, the informal term "South Korea" was coined, becoming increasingly common in the Western world. While South Koreans use "Han" (or "Hanguk") to refer to the entire country, North Koreans and ethnic Koreans living in China and Japan use the term "Joseon" as the name of the country. The Korean name "Daehan Minguk" is sometimes used by South Koreans as a metonym to refer to the Korean ethnicity (or "race") as a whole, rather than just the South Korean state.
History of South Korea
Korea was administratively partitioned in 1945, at the end of World War II. As Korea was under Japanese rule during World War II, Korea was officially a belligerent against the Allies by virtue of being Japanese territory. The unconditional surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones (similar to the four zones in Germany), with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet Union administering the area north of the 38th parallel. This division was meant to be temporary (as was in Germany) and was first intended to return a unified Korea back to its people after the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China could arrange a single government for the peninsula.
History of South Korea
The two parties were unable to agree on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea. This led in 1948 to the establishment of two separate governments – the Communist-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the West-aligned First Republic of Korea – each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea. On June 25, 1950 the Korean War broke out. After much destruction, the war ended on July 27,1953 with the 1948 status quo being restored, as neither the DPRK nor the First Republic had succeeded in conquering the other's portion of the divided Korea. The peninsula was divided by the Korean Demilitarized Zone and the two separate governments stabilized into the existing political entities of North and South Korea.
Division of Korea
General Abe Nobuyuki, the last Japanese Governor-General of Korea, had established contact with a number of influential Koreans since the beginning of August 1945 to prepare the hand-over of power. Throughout August, Koreans organized people's committee branches for the "Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence" (CPKI, 조선건국준비위원회), led by Lyuh Woon-hyung, a left-wing politician. On September 6, 1945, a congress of representatives was convened in Seoul and founded the short-lived People's Republic of Korea. In the spirit of consensus, conservative elder statesman Syngman Rhee, who was living in exile in the US, was nominated as President.
History of the Joseon dynasty
The Chinese defeat in the 1894 war led to the Treaty of Shimonoseki between China and Japan, which officially guaranteed Korea's independence from its tributary status with China. For Japan, it was a step toward regional hegemony in Korea. After that, Korea built the Independence Gate and stopped paying tributes to the Qing dynasty. The Joseon court, pressured by encroachment from larger powers, felt the need to reinforce national integrity and declared the Korean Empire in 1897. Gojong assumed the title of emperor in order to assert Korea's independence. He tried to promote the Gwangmu Reform, but failed because of opposition from the general populace and the Japanese.
South Korea
Historically, Korea had close relations with the dynasties in China, and some Korean kingdoms were members of the Imperial Chinese tributary system. The Korean kingdoms also ruled over some Chinese kingdoms including the Kitan people and the Manchurians before the Qing dynasty and received tributes from them. In modern times, before the formation of South Korea, Korean independence fighters worked with Chinese soldiers during the Japanese occupation. However, after World War II, the People's Republic of China embraced Maoism while South Korea sought close relations with the United States. The PRC assisted North Korea with manpower and supplies during the Korean War, and in its aftermath the diplomatic relationship between South Korea and the PRC almost completely ceased. Relations thawed gradually and South Korea and the PRC re-established formal diplomatic relations on August 24, 1992. The two countries sought to improve bilateral relations and lifted the forty-year-old trade embargo, and South Korean–Chinese relations have improved steadily since 1992. The Republic of Korea broke off official relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan) upon gaining official relations with the People's Republic of China, which doesn't recognise Taiwan's sovereignty.
North Korea
Soviet general Terentii Shtykov recommended the establishment of the Soviet Civil Authority in October 1945, and supported Kim Il-sung as chairman of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea, established in February 1946. During the provisional government, Shtykov's chief accomplishment was a sweeping land reform program that broke North Korea's stratified class system. Landlords and Japanese collaborators fled to the South, where there was no land reform and sporadic unrest. Shtykov nationalized key industries and led the Soviet delegation to talks on the future of Korea in Moscow and Seoul. In September 1946, South Korean citizens rose up against the Allied Military Government. In April 1948, an uprising of the Jeju islanders was violently crushed. The South declared its statehood in May 1948 and two months later the ardent anti-communist Syngman Rhee became its ruler. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was established in the North on 9 September 1948. Shtykov served as the first Soviet ambassador, while Kim Il-sung became premier.
Outline of South Korea
Korea has a history of 5,000 years, with its foundation dating back to 2333 BC by the legendary Dangun. Following the unification of the Three Korean Kingdoms under Silla in AD 668, Korea went through the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasty as one nation until annexed by Japan in 1910. After Japan's defeat in World War II, Korea was divided, and South Korea was established in 1948. It has since developed a successful democracy, maintaining a strong alliance with the United States.
Provinces of Korea
At the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided into Northern Korea and Southern Korea under trusteeship of the Soviet Union and the United States. The peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel in 1945. In 1948, the two zones became the independent countries of North Korea and South Korea.
Propaganda in South Korea
A national identity of anti-communism formed in South Korea under president Syngman Rhee after the nation’s inception in 1948. Strong anti-communist propaganda themes were created to counter North Korean communism and subversion which was seen as the threat. The South Korean government enacted legislation against “anti-national” activities in 1948 and firmly establishing an anti-communist ideology with the National Security Act. The act outlawed any dissent or criticism of the ruling South Korean government, effectively making communism illegal. This included the media, art, literature and music. South Korea sought to establish itself as distinctly democratic and opposed to North Korea's communist national identity. This external theme was to lobby for the support of the United States for South Korea’s security. South Korean propaganda needed to counter the heavy pro-communist propaganda of North Korea and the cult of personality surrounding Kim Il-Sung. The competing propaganda themes sought to draw defectors to their respective ideologies in hopes of reuniting the peninsula. The anti-communist mindset was more firmly entrenched after the Korean War furthering animosity and the split between the two Koreas.
Emblem of North Korea
During the Liberation of Korea in 1945 by the Allies, Northern Korea had no emblem although the emblem of the People's Republic of Korea was used from 1945 to 1946. The first equivalent of an emblem appeared on January 1, 1946, printed below a speech of Kim Il-sung in the newspaper "Chǒngro". It features the Korean Peninsula surrounded by ribbons. This was the only time it was ever used, and between 1946 and 1948 a simple outline of the peninsula was displayed in its place. This was intended to signal that the North and the South are one country.
Fifth Republic of Korea
The Fifth Republic of South Korea was the government of South Korea from 1981 to 1987, replacing the Fourth Republic of South Korea. Throughout this period, the government was controlled by Chun Doo-hwan, a military colleague of the assassinated president Park Chung-hee. This period saw extensive efforts at reform. It laid the foundations for the relatively stable democratic system of the subsequent Sixth Republic in 1987.