| (1) Birth of the Republic
of Korea |
On August 15, 1945, Korea's
independence was restored.
But before Korea could
even take in all the joys of independence, Koreans were
confronted with the tragedy of a territorial division.
The United States and the Soviet Union, whose roles were
decisive in defeating the Japanese forces as members of
the Allied Forces, separately occupied the territories
south and north of the 38th parallel in Korea for the
purpose of disarming the Japanese Army.
Then, the
Allied Forces, following the decision of the Three
Ministers' Conference in Moscow, planned to place South
and North Korea under the Trusteeship of the United
Nations for the next five years. |
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Ceremony commemorating the establishment of
the Government of the Republic of
Korea. | |
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The U.S. and the Soviet
Union proposed setting up a U.S.-Soviet Joint Commitee
Conference in Seoul for the purpose of placing Korea
under the trusteeship of the U.N. The Koreans vehemently
objected to the plan of placing Korea under the
U.S.-Soviet Trusteeship. Many social organizations as
well as political parties arranged their own program to
establish a new Korean nation. In South Korea, where
political freedoms were secured, confrontations between
the forces of the right and the left were
acute.
Within this whirlpool, the U.S.-Soviet Joint
Commitee Conference broke down. The U.S. presented the
matters of Korea to the United Nations, upon which the
United Nations made a proposal for a general election to
be held in Korea and a unified independent government be
set up. However, North Korea, which was under the
control of the Soviet Army, rejected the activities of
the U.N. Korean Provisional Commitee and thus the
general election took place only in South Korea.
The
result of this election was the establishment of a new
state standing for free democracy and capitalism in
South Korea on August 15, 1948. This is today's Republic
of Korea. |
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| (2) The Tragedy of
War |
| As the Republic of Korea was
established in South Korea, North Korea's Kim Il-sung
who had already set up a separate government,
established a government leading toward communism under
the support of the Soviet Union in September 1948. Thus,
within three years after casting off the chains of
Japanese imperialism, Korea faced its greatest
historical tragedy--the division of the nation.
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Millions of North Korean refugees flee
south ahead of hordes of Chinese troops who
entered the War in October
1950. | |
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This division of the South
and North drove the Korean peninsula into an extreme
state of tension. Furthermore, as the world political
situation led by the U.S. and Soviet Union rapidly
rushed into a cold war structure, the Korean peninsula
became a region of instability, not knowing when war
might break out. Using this international political
situation, North Korea obtained tremendous military aid
from the Soviet Union and was soon equipped with a
strong military force.
After the establishment of the
government of the Republic of Korea, communist groups in
North Korea attacked various places in South Korea and
after it reinforced its military forces, it finally
invaded South Korea on JAN 20, 2004 25, 1950. The
Republic of Korea's army which was confronted by this
unforeseen attack fought courageously with its inferior
weaponry. Within three days, enemy forces captured Seoul
and the national army was forced to retreat temporarily
from the area.
The national army, which was pushed
down to the Naktong River, began to march northward
again with the aid of the U.N. forces. The United
Nations had already branded the North Korean communists
as aggressors, and ordered its forces, composed of the
armies of the United States, the United Kingdom and 14
other nations, to aid South Korea. With the entry of the
UN forces on the South Korean side, the tables were
turned again. As the national army and the UN forces
drove the enemy to the Amnok (Yalu) River, it seemed
that hopes for unification would be realized. However,
the Chinese Communist Army joined forces with North
Korea and launched a massive counter attack on the
south, the country entered a new phase in what was to be
a long, protracted war. Finally, after three years of
intense fighting, the UN forces accepted the Soviet
Union's proposal for a cease-fire and an Armistice
Agreement reached on July 27, 1953.
The Korean War
left a deep scar on Korea. There were millions of human
casualties during the war. Countless homes and factories
were destroyed. Moreover, due to the war, mistrust
between North and South Korea deepened. |
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| (3) Tests of Political
Development |
With the armistice, the
Republic of Korea attempted to reconstruct its
devestated lands. The U.S. and other free nations
supported Korea's efforts. And Korea and the U.S.
concluded a mutual defense treaty in order to prepare
against any aggressions.
The disasters of war were
for the most part, finally overcome in the last 10 years
due to the enthusiastic participation of the people.
However, ROK's first President. Rhee Syng-man exercised
dictatorial rule and because of his tight grip on power,
free democracy was impossible. The Liberal Party led by
Rhee Syng-man amended the Constitution as they pleased,
in order to extend their political power. Government
corruption was so great that the people's complaints
could no longer be suppressed. Thus, the Liberal Party
government finally crumbled with the April Revolution
(April 19, 1960) of students and citizens (April
26,1960).
After the April Revolution but before the
newly formed Democratic Party government could take
control of the political situation, a group of soldiers
under the command of General Park Chung-hee carried out
a coup d' tat and established a military government on
May 16, 1961. They soon organized the Democratic
Republican Party, revised the constitution with a
president-centered system and formed a new
government.
Under the slogan of "Modernization of
Korea", the ruling Republican Party under President Park
Chung-hee launched the Saemaul Movement and pushed for
economic development policies. The policies received
strong support and cooperation from the people and as a
result, the standard of living rose to the level of
semi-developed countries. President Park, in order to
maintain long-term political power, amended the
Constitution and enforced the October Restoration
(Yusin) System to construct a one-man dictatorship
structure in 1972. |
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The
prime Minister of South and North Korea exchanging
an intra-Korean agreement on September 17.
1992. |
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| With the strengthening of the
Yusin System, the resistance movement for democracy
expanded. In this state of affairs, President Park was
assassinated and in order to cope with the political
unrest, another group of soldiers loyal to General Chun
Doo-hwan made their advance into politics. They formed
the Democratic Justice Party and promulgated a revised
Constitution and set forth a new government. The efforts
of people, who demanded political democracy, continued
to cast bright prospects for the realization of a
completely free country. This has been urged on for the
past 50 years since Korea's restoration. |
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| (4) Progress in North-South
Dialogues |
The Korean War has separated
the two Koreas for 50 years. It seems this gulf cannot
be bridged. But a truly meaningful national happiness
cannot be enjoyed without the peaceful reunification of
North and South Korea. For this reason, proposals for a
peaceful democratic unification of the North and South
have been cautiously sought between the divided
country.
In that sense, the North-South communique
announced on July 4, 1972 was seen as dramatic progress
toward reunification. In this communique, the North and
South Korean authorities declared national unity
transcending structural or ideological differences. Each
has set up concrete programs to realize this vision. As
a step toward this, the North-South regulation
commissions installed a direct telephone line and shared
a number of dialogues between Seoul and
P'yong'yang.
But these dialogues have been
unilaterally cut off by the North on the pretext of
domestic political change. However, efforts by both
sides to reopen these dialogues continue and have
resulted in limited reunions between separated families
and art performance troupes in 1985.
It would be
difficult for North and South Korea to achieve peaceful
unification at this very moment. However, recognizing
that only a peaceful reunification can guarantee a happy
life for Koreans, the two sides should not be closed to
continuing dialogues and abandoning the mutual distrust
which exists between the North and South. |
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