Postwar Korea was divided along the 38th parallel after World War II, with the Soviet-backed Democratic People's Republic of Korea established in the north and the U.S.-backed Republic of Korea in the south. This division led to the Korean War from 1950-1953. While South Korea experienced rapid economic growth under authoritarian rule and later democratized, North Korea remains isolated under the dynastic rule of the Kim family. Relations between the two Koreas have fluctuated over the decades from conflict to recent summit meetings aimed at cooperation and reunification.

1. Postwar Korea

2. Outline
• Overview
• Japanese rule (1910 - 1945)
• Korean War (1950 - 1953)
• Republic of Korea
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
• Inter-Korean relations

4. Historical Characteristics
• Unified, centralized, bureaucratic kingdom
for well over a millennium
– From 668 to Japanese annexation in 1910
– Only three dynasties, the last one >500 years
– Modeled after China & Confucian traditions
– Part of the China-centric international order
and tributary system

5. Japanese rule (1910-1945)
• Control educational system
– Japanese language and culture
• Control land (40% of entire country)
• Infrastructure
– railroads and telegraph lines
• Industrialization
• Provisional Government-in-exile (1919)

6. 38th Parallel (1945-50)
• Soviet & U.S. divided Korea along 38th
parallel after Japan surrendered in 1945
• 1948-08-15, Republic of Korea was
established (43% area, 60% population)
– President: Rhee Syngman
• 1948-09-09, Democratic People’s
Republic of Korea was established
– Premier: Kim Il-Sung

7. Dulles, Rhee, & MacArthur
• nationalist goals vs. Cold War strategies

8. Korean War (1950 - 1953)
• Most fighting happened 1950 - 1951
• truce negotiations 1951 - 1953
• Military Demarcation Line (MDL) (1953 - )

9. Mutual Defense Treaty
• 1953 ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty
• Article IV: The Republic of Korea grants,
and the United States of America accepts,
the right to dispose United States land, air
and sea forces in and about the territory of
the Republic of Korea as determined by
mutual agreement.

10. Republic of Korea
• President Rhee Syngman (1948 - 1960)
– autocrat resigned amid popular protests
• 1961 military coup by Park Chung-Hee
– relations with Japan normalized in 1965
– economic takeoff
– assassinated in 1979

11. ROK Economic Takeoff
• Park’s authoritarian rule (1961-79)
– annual economic growth rate of 9.2%
– one of the four Asian “little dragons”
– Japanese model of "developmental state"
year per capita GDP (US$) export (US$)
-----------------------------------------------------------
1962 87 56.7 million
1980 1,503 17,500.0 million

12. Favorable Conditions in 1960s
• International (U.S.) political support
• Access to foreign (U.S. & Japan) capital
and technology
• Small core class of entrepreneurs
• Literate, experienced, inexpensive, and
obedient workers
• Vietnam War economic bonanza
– Similar to what the Korean War did for Japan

13. Democratization in ROK
• Army General Chun (1980 - 1987)
• 1980, Kwangju massacre
• 1987, Declaration of Political Reforms
• 1988 election, opposition parties won
majority in National Assembly
• Kim Young Sam won presidential election
in 1992
– 1st elected civilian president

14. Current President
• 2017 presidential election
– Moon Jae-in (Democratic Party)

15. North Korea
• Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
– area slightly smaller than Mississippi
– population 23 million
• Capital: Pyongyang
• Ruling party: Worker’s Party of Korea

16. The Kim political dynasty
• Kim Jong-Il succeeded his father, Kim Il-
Sung, as the supreme leader in 1994.
• Kim Jong-Un succeeded his father, Kim
Jong-Il, as the supreme leader in 2011.

17. Inter-Korean Relations
• 1972 Joint-Communiqué
• President Kim Dae-Jung’s “Sunshine
Policy” (engagement) since 1997
• Kim visited Pyongyang in 2000 and won
Nobel Peace Prize
• 2nd summit in 2007 between Roh and Kim

18. Inter-Korean Relations
• Inter-Korean Ministerial Talks since 2000
• South-North Economic Cooperation
Promotion Committee
• Inter-Korean Red Cross talks
• Three summit meetings in 2018
– Chairman Kim Jong Un became the first North
Korean leader to set foot on South Korean
soil.

20. In 2017, China accounted for 86% of North Korea’s exports
and 92% of its imports.

21. Inter-Korean Relations
• railway and road reconnection
• North Korea tourism