Monday - North Korea Notes
Origins
Korea was invaded and ruled by Japan from 1910 until 1945
After WWII, Korea was split into two -North (USSR) and South (US) at the 38th parallel
An election was going to be held to eventually unify Korea
The United Nations held an election in 1948
The Soviet Union refused to allow participation in the election in their occupied zone
Instead, they handed over power to the North Korean Communist Party under Kim IL-Sung
The South elected the nationalist exile Syngman Rhee
US government stated in January,1950 that Korea was “outside of our defense perimeter”.
This encouraged North Korea to be aggressive
South Korean President Syngman Rhee and North Korean leader Kim II-Sung both wanted to reunite Korea under their own systems.
Because of the US withdrawal,the North Koreans were the ones able to go on the offensive
MacArthur Removed
MacArthur was removed from command by President Truman on April 11,1951
MacArthur was succeeded by General Matthew Ridgeway
He was able to slowly drive back the enemy to the 38th parallel
The people's republic of china and the soviet union were wary of the war in china
Mao and stalin were concerned that it would encourage american intervention in asia after just leaving
Kim was able to manipulate both Mao and stalin into supporting their invasion of South Korea
The rest of the war involved little territory change and lengthy peace negotiations
Even during the peace negotiations combat continued
For the south korean and allied forces the goal was to recapture all of what had been south korea
Eventually a ceasefire was established on july 27th, 1953 near the 38th parallel
North Korea vs South Korea
Korea split
Korean Conflict (war)
Communism vs. Democracy
Economic and Social Comparisons
North Korean Leaders
Kim II Sung (Ruled 1948-1994)
Kim Jong iI (Ruled 1994-2011)
Kim Jong- Un took office in 2011 after his dad died
Nuclear aggressiveness
“Deadly” Nuclear Catastrophe with US-January 2014
Killed his uncle in December 2013
North Korea Nuclear Timeline
In 1993 (and iterated in 2003) North Korea announced its withdrawal from the Nuclear, Non- Proliferation Treaty
In 1994, US and NK sign deal where US would help build 2 nuclear power reactors in NK
In 2002, President Bush charges that NK, Iraq and Iran are an “Axis of Evil”
In 2002, NK admits to having a nuclear weapons program and nullifies 1994 deal
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