North Korea vs. South Korea

These two countries share the same name (Korea), culture, and ancient history. But when it comes to their modern history, things get heated. Why?

It all started in 1910 when Japan annexed the land of Korea. This annexation remained until 1945, the end of World War II. The Allied Powers split Japan between themselves. The U.S.A. occupied the Japanese archipelago and the southern portion of Korea, while the U.S.S.R. occupied the northern part of Korea. Eventually, these occupied areas became independent as the democratic nations of Japan and South Korea and the communist nation of North Korea.

Now that we have figured out how the North and South Koreas came to be: let’s dive into why they do not like each other. You see, communist and democratic countries were fierce enemies at the time. Democratic countries, especially the U.S., wanted to change communist countries into democratic ones and vice versa. So naturally, North Korea and South Korea became enemies. This led to an all-out war. North Korea invaded South Korea, the South invaded the North, and the North pushed the Southern forces to the original boundary. Eventually, a peace treaty was signed, creating a no-man’s-land around the border.

How is the conflict today? There is still much distrust. Media talks about this distrust, an example being the South Korean TV series Crash Landing On You (available on Netflix). The no-man’s-land is still there today, though more peace talks have happened. Who knows what will happen in the future? Only time will tell.

By Mihir Gupta