By Robert Kienzle

Anyone keeping an eye on global politics will be familiar with North Korea’s recent nuclear testing.  The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name, conducted an underground nuclear test on October 9, alarming the global community. Three months earlier, on July 5, North Korea tested four long-range missiles over the East Sea (the Sea of Japan). These tests are a continuation of a half-century war between North Korea and South Korea. Understanding this struggle is a key to understanding the recent provocative actions of North Korea. A brief look at the political history between the two Koreas gives us insight into the current nuclear conflict.

The conflict began in 1910, when Japan annexed Korea as colony. There was no division in Korea at the time. For 35 years, Japan’s harsh political and cultural rulings produced hate and disdain for Japan among the Korean people. At the end of World War II, Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on August 15, 1945. Ten days later, the Korean peninsula was divided into North Korea and South Korea. The Soviet Union took control of the surrendered Japanese military north of the 38th Parallel, while the United States controlled south of the parallel. Two years later, the United Nations called for elections in the divided nation. North Korea refused to participate. Instead, North Korea formed the communist DPRK. The United States turned authority over to the people in the south, thereby establishing the Republic of Korea, or South Korea.

Almost five years of peace occurred until North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950 and quickly overthrew the capital city of Seoul. Two days later, the United Nations put military sanctions on North Korea and the United States ordered a military intervention. Despite the strength of the combined UN and US forces, North Korea controlled all of South Korea except a 10,360-square-kilometer section in the southern tip. A UN assault in the DPRK-controlled port city of Incheon on September 15 turned the war around. By September 30, the UN controlled all of South Korea and was pushing the North Korean forces deeper into their own territory. China got involved in the war by the end of October and helped the North push UN forces back to the original dividing line at the 38th parallel. Truce talks began on July 10, 1951, and lasted two years before an armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. This war devastated the peninsula and its people.

Today, the countries remain divided and technically at war. No peace treaty has ever been signed between the two nations, and soldiers from both sides are still stationed along the 38th parallel. This border, known as the Demilitarized Zone, is considered to be one of the most dangerous places on the planet, despite the fact that neither side is firing shots at one another.

In June 2000, South Korean President Kim Dae Jung met with North Korea’s President Kim Jong Il. This was a historical meeting, as it was the first time leaders from the two Koreas met. Kim Dae Jung received the Nobel Prize four months later for his efforts to reconcile with the North. This reconciliation, commonly referred to as the “Sunshine Policy,” seeks to change North Korea’s hostile behavior through cooperation and humanitarian aid while simultaneously refusing to endure provocations.

Since 2000, North Korea has strained South Korea’s efforts for peace. In 2003, North Korea boasted about its nuclear ambitions. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun (who still holds the office today) asserted that he would honor the Sunshine Policy enacted by Kim Dae Jung. He kept his word despite North Korea’s militaristic advances and criticism from South Korean conservatives. This year, however, when North Korea tested its nuclear weapon, the South Korea stopped supplying aid to North Korea. Many analysts now believe the Sunshine policy is dead.

North Korea’s hostile actions, especially the nuclear test, have strained the international community. North Korea has only one powerful ally: China. While China previously refused to initiate sanctions, the nation decided to join the rest of the UN Security Council and imposed nonmilitary sanctions after the test. This prompted Kim Jong Il to apologize to China for conducting the test. Kim Jong Il stated that North Korea would not test another nuclear weapon, but skeptics wonder how long this promise will last. North Korea has stated it will not reconsider its nuclear ambitions until the United States agrees to bilateral talks. The United States and other nations insist on six-party talks among North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia. As South Korean diplomat Ban Ki-moon replaces Kofi Annan as the Secretary General of the UN, many are hopeful that Ban can bring his experience in Korea into the efforts for a peaceful resolve.

Political tensions exist everywhere in the Koreas today, and they extend into the opinions of the South Korean people. There are those in South Korea who wish to reconcile with North Korea. There are those who protest the soft treatment of the defiant North Korea and wish to take firmer actions. Some sympathize with North Korea, some want to end the ongoing alliance with the United States, and some appreciate the alliance and want the U.S. military to remain in South Korea (more than 32,000 members of the U.S. military are currently stationed in the country). Many are apathetic about North Korea’s actions and are used to Kim Jong Il’s war games. Most, however, just want peace and to end the bitter division between the countries. While this history is indeed brief, it gives a necessary overview of how the current conflict in the Korean peninsula arose. There are many details left out, including fighting in the DMZ, North Korea’s underground infiltration tunnels into South Korea, and political uprisings, but to include them all would turn this article into a book. Many of the omitted occurrences will become the topics of future articles.

Robert Kienzle is a U.S. citizen living in Seoul, South Korea.  He is a teacher, a social researcher and a freelance journalist.  He holds a M.A. from the University of Arkansas in communication. As a correspondent living in South Korea, he hopes to give insight into what it is like living as a Westerner in South Korea, what it is like to visit the DMZ and cross the North Korean border and what it is like to live in one of the most beautiful but war-torn countries in the world.

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