Korean History and Culture Seminar for American Educators Handbook 2017 NKS Seminar-Handbook-Final with Daniel | Page 28

Twentieth Century Korean and East Asian History & Economic and Political Development of Korea -Post Korean War to Present Albert L. Park, Associate Professor of History, Claremont McKenna College, [email protected] Twentieth century Korea featured clashes, upheavals and revivals. Koreans entered a new torturous phase of history following the end of Japanese colonialism in 1945. Within eight years, Koreans experienced independence, conflict, division and war. The permanent separation of the two Koreas gave way to drives for building autonomous and strong nation states following the war. By the late 1970s, North and South Korea achieved economic revivals that were celebrated by communist countries and industrial capitalist societies. The divergence of the North and South Korean economies by the end of the Cold War raised issues and questions about the prospects toward reunification and the role of the United States in Korea and East Asia. Today, Koreans on the peninsula face an uncertain future as they are still bound to the Cold War with the division of the peninsula in spite of the breaking down of boundaries throughout the world due to globalization. This presentation gives a brief overview of events and developments in a unified Korea from 1945-1948, wartime Korea (1950-53) and North and South Korea. It explains the rise of division in 1948, the Korean War, an independent industrial North Korea, and the industrialization and democratization of South Korea. Studying these events gives the contextualization for understanding the rise of North Korea’s nuclear program and the politics of reunification. 28 I. The end of Colonialism and the rise of division (1945-1948) a. “Pressure cooker” and ideological conflict between Koreans b. Cold War politics between the United States and Soviet Union c. South Korea (May 1948) and North Korea (Sept 1948) II. Origins of the Korean War and the Korean War (1950-1953) a. Colonial Korea b. Discontent and revolt in South Korea and liberation in North Korea c. Borderland skirmishes (1949) d. Did the Korean War start on June 25, 1950? e. Incheon Landing (Sept 15, 1950) f. China’s war (Oct 1950) g. Wartime atrocities h. Stalemate i. Armistice (July 1953) III. North Korea after the war (1953-1990) a. Juche and Autonomy b. Industrialization c. Non-Aligned Movement