Conflict of North and South Korea: essence, cause, chronology. The history of the conflict between North and South Korea

Today there are two countries on the Korean Peninsula, located in East Asia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea. How and why were these two states formed? Moreover, why are these two countries so radically different from each other and what is the reason for their enmity? About how everything happened from the very beginning, what conflict between North and South Korea does not allow these countries to reunite, read in our material.

The beginning of XX century. The seizure of Korea by Japan

What is and where does the conflict between North and South Korea originate? It is not easy to answer these questions briefly, because the prerequisites that led to the emergence of these two states, aggressively inclined toward each other, were laid more than a hundred years ago.

Even in the XIX century, Korea was an independent state, but fell into the sphere of interests of different countries, in particular, Russia, China and Japan. They confronted each other in the struggle for the right to rule over Korea. The final role in this confrontation was played by the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. As a result, Japan finally established its primacy on the peninsula. Initially establishing a protectorate over Korea, by 1910, Japan had fully incorporated it into the borders of its state. So conditions were created that in the future resulted in the known conflict of South and North Korea, the chronology of which is counted from the middle of the XX century.

Thus, for 35 years, until the time of Japan's defeat in the Second World War, Korea remained its colony. Of course, during this period, the Koreans tried to win independence, but militaristic Japan at the root suppressed all such attempts.

During the conference held in Cairo in 1943, questions were discussed regarding the prospects for military action in the Asia-Pacific region. Regarding the territories captured by Japan, it was decided in the future to give Korea independence.

The liberation of Korea and its division into time zones

In 1945, Allied armies landed on the Korean peninsula, respectively, Soviet troops came from the north, and the US troops from the south. Later, as a result, South and North Korea were formed . The history of the conflict starts with an agreement between the US and the USSR to divide the country into two zones for more effective acceptance of Japan's capitulation. The division was conducted along the 38th parallel, and after the final liberation of the Korean peninsula from the Japanese invaders, the Allies began to form transitional governments with a view to further uniting the northern and southern zones into a unified state under a single leadership.

It is noteworthy that in the southern zone, which was supervised by the Americans, was the capital of the former Korean state - the city of Seoul. In addition, in the southern part of the peninsula the population density was almost twice as high as in the north of the country, the same was true for agricultural and industrial resources.

The USSR and the US can not or do not want to agree

This was followed by a new problem: the United States and the Soviet Union can not agree on the order of unification of the country. They disagreed on many issues regarding the procedure for the withdrawal of Allied forces from Korea, the holding of elections, the formation of a single government, etc. Attempts to reach agreement did not lead to anything for almost two years. In particular, the USSR initially insisted on the withdrawal of the entire contingent of foreign troops from the territory of Korea, after which it would be possible to start implementing the remaining items of the plan. America did not agree with this proposal and in the summer of 1947 brought the Korean issue to the UN General Assembly for consideration. Perhaps the essence of the conflict between North and South Korea was originally laid in the confrontation between the two superpowers - the US and the USSR.

But since America enjoyed the support of the majority of UN members, the Korean issue was considered and approved on the terms proposed by the United States. In turn, the USSR opposed, however, the UN has already decided to create a special commission, whose task was to organize and conduct elections in Korea. The USSR and the North Korean authorities controlled by it refused to admit the UN commission to the northern part of the peninsula.

Creation of two independent and independent republics

Despite disagreements, in May 1948 elections were held in the US-administered territory, which resulted in the formation of an independent Republic of Korea, otherwise - South Korea. The formed government, headed by President Lee Seung Man, focuses on the Western world and works closely with the United States.

Following this, elections are also held in the northern part of the Korean peninsula in August of the same year, and in September it is announced that North Korea is being created, otherwise, North Korea. In this case, a pro-communist government was formed, headed by Kim Il Sung. So, two independent states were created - South and North Korea. The history of the conflict begins with the war that followed two years later.

After the creation of these two states, the US and the USSR began to withdraw their troops from their territory. It should be noted that each of the newly formed governments initially made claims to the entire territory of the Korean Peninsula and declared itself as the only legitimate authority of Korea. Relations were heated, countries accumulated their military potential, the conflict between North and South Korea was aggravated and gradually passed into the force plane. In the years 1949-1950. Small clashes began along the 38th parallel, which is the boundary between the newly formed republics, which later turned into a full-scale war.

The beginning of the Korean War

By June 25, 1950, the sluggish conflict between North and South Korea had gradually escalated into heavy fighting. The parties mutually accused each other of the attack, but today it is considered that the aggressor was the DPRK. In just a few days it became obvious that the North Korean army was far superior to its adversary, because it was already on the fifth day of the war that she managed to occupy Seoul. The United States immediately came to the aid of the South, and also launched a campaign in the UN in which they accused North Korea of aggression, urging the international community to provide military support to South Korea in order to restore security in the region.

As a result of the inclusion of American units, and after them the forces united under the auspices of the United Nations, into the conflict between North and South Korea, the South's army managed to restrain the enemy's offensive. This was followed by a counteroffensive in North Korea, which led to the inclusion of Chinese volunteer formations in the war. The Soviet Union also rendered military support to North Korea, so soon the war zone again moved to the southern part of the peninsula.

The outcome of the Korean War

After another counter-attack by the South Korean army and the UN multinational forces allied to it, by July 1951 the war zone had finally moved to the 38th parallel, along which all subsequent clashes continued for two years. Soon it became clear that the price of victory for any of the warring parties could be too high, so on July 27, a truce was concluded. It is noteworthy that the ceasefire agreement was signed by the commanders of the DPRK and China, on the one hand, and the United States under the UN flag on the other. At the same time, the United States still maintains a military presence in South Korea.

Different sources report unequal figures regarding the losses of the parties that caused the conflict between North and South Korea, but it can be confidently said that these losses were significant. Also, great damage was done to both states, since the fighting was conducted practically on the whole territory of the peninsula. The Korean War was in fact an integral part of the cold war that began in the middle of the 20th century .

Relations between countries in the second half of the twentieth century

At the end of the war on the peninsula, the conflict between North and South Korea was transferred to a frozen state. The fraternal countries continued to treat each other with caution and suspicion, and only with the establishment of contacts between America and China has the relations between the North and the South improved somewhat.

In 1972, a joint statement was signed by the countries, according to which they took the course for unity, based on the principles of peaceful dialogue, independence, without relying on external forces. However, few people believe in the possibility of a complete merger of states into one whole, because the cause of the conflict between North and South Korea lies partly in the incompatibility of political regimes and principles of government. So, in the DPRK they proposed to consider the option of creating a confederation according to the formula "one state, one people - two governments and two systems".

In the early 1990s, new attempts were made to draw closer together. In connection with this, a number of new agreements were adopted, among them the Agreement on Reconciliation, Nonaggression and Mutual Cooperation, and the Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. However, following the peaceful initiatives of the DPRK, it was not uncommon to find intentions to obtain nuclear weapons, which often provoked deep concern from the international community, in particular the United States.

Relations between countries in modern times

In June 2000, the first inter-Korean summit took place, at which the next steps were taken towards rapprochement. On June 15, the heads of the republics signed the Joint Declaration of the North and the South, which in the long run became the fundamental document on the issues of unification that Korean society had expected for almost half a century. This declaration states the intention of the parties to achieve reunification "by the forces of the Korean nation itself".

In October 2007, another inter-Korean meeting was held, the result of which was the signing of new documents that continue and develop the principles laid down in the 2000 Joint Declaration. Nevertheless, the essence of the conflict between North and South Korea is such that relations between countries remain unstable over time, and also characterized by periods of ups and downs.

Periodic exacerbation of relations

Examples of the aggravation of the situation on the peninsula are often associated with underground nuclear tests in North Korea, as happened in 2006 and 2009. In both cases, such actions of the DPRK provoked a protest not only from South Korea - the entire international community opposed nuclear activities, and several resolutions were adopted at the UN Security Council calling for the resumption of talks on the denuclearization of the peninsula.

The conflict between North and South Korea has often resulted in armed clashes, which certainly put the process of rapprochement of the fraternal countries to the brink of failure. So, on March 25, 2010 near the North Korean border in the Yellow Sea, a South Korean warship was blown up and sunk, which caused the death of 46 sailors. South Korea accused the DPRK of destroying the ship, but North denied his guilt. In November of the same year, there was a major armed incident on the line of demarcation, in which the parties exchanged mutual artillery shelling. Not without sacrifices, including the dead.

Among other things, North Korea reacts rather sharply to the American presence in the southern part of the peninsula. The United States and South Korea, long-time allies, periodically conduct military exercises in response to that, the North repeatedly made loud statements threatening to use force and strike missiles at American military bases located in the south of the peninsula and in the Pacific Ocean, as well as on the continental part USA.

Today's reality

In August 2015, the conflict between North and South Korea was again aggravated. In short, an artillery shot was fired from North Korea. The purpose of this attack, according to reports from Pyongyang, was the loudspeakers through which the South conducted propaganda against the North. In turn, in Seoul, these actions were linked with the fact that two soldiers of the Republic of Korea had recently been blown up on a mine allegedly planted by North Korean saboteurs. After the parties exchanged mutual accusations, the government of the DPRK threatened with military action if, within 48 hours, the South Korean authorities did not come to their senses and stop anti-North Korean propaganda.

In the media there was a lot of noise on this topic, analysts and political scientists expressed a lot of assumptions about the likelihood of a new inter-Korean confrontation, but ultimately the parties managed to agree and resolve everything peacefully. The question arises: how long? And what will be the next reason for the conflict between North and South Korea, and what can the next escalation lead to?

It is hardly possible today to predict how relations between North and South Korea will develop in the future. Will the people of these countries manage to resolve this in some sense internal conflict, not to mention the prospects of uniting countries in a single state? For more than half a century since the Korean War, the Korean people have split into two separate nations, each fully formed and now has its own character and mentality. Even if they can forgive each other all the wrongs, it will still be difficult for them to find a common language. Nevertheless, we would like to wish them all one thing - peace and mutual understanding.