Modern Korean History
Korea people tend to say we have 5,000 years of proud history. However, I would not like to go back to the ancient history, because I do not have much knowledge about it, and it is seriously boring.
As many people know, Korea has been separated into two countries due to the Korean War in the 1950s. After Japan surrendered to the US, Korea was finally able to gain independence, but two very different ideologies emerged on the Korean peninsula, democracy, and communism.
The US and the Soviet Union both claimed that Korea did not have the ability to lead itself, and they decided to divide Korea along the 38th
Naturally, those Koreans who believed that communism is better than democracy moved to the Soviet-controlled area in the north, and those who pursued democracy settled in the south.
There were many guerilla-style battles near the border and both sides were able to penetrate into small villages and attack their enemies. However, the two sides did not start an actual war until the US decided to withdraw its troops from South Korea.
By the time the US was with withdrawing her troops, the relationship between the north and south was stable. However, North Korea abused took advantage of this situation by claiming to have no intention of war, when their true intentions were very different. After the US left the south, the north suddenly attacked on June 25th
Since South Korea was not prepared for war, many soldiers were killed trying to protect South Korea. Seoul, the capital, was also overran and had to be sacrificed to the northern army. However, thanks in large part to international aid such as troops, weapons, food, etc. the south was eventually able to push the North Korean soldiers out of Seoul.
After the brutal war, South Korea became one of the poorest countries in the world. Luckily, many countries around the world who wanted to protect democracy aided South Korea and many people devoted themselves to the rebuilding and recovery of the south.
After struggling for decades, South Korea has become one of the richest countries in the world, and because they know what it’s like to suffer hardship, South Korea is also trying to help many other countries in poverty.
