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127-877: Park was born in 1943 or 1944 in Korea, during the period of Japanese occupation . He began training in the martial arts as a child, starting with boxing before moving on to judo and then taekwondo. Park was one of the twelve original taekwondo masters of the Korea Taekwon-Do Association. In 1964, he was the second President of the Korean Tae Soo Do Association. From 1965 to 1967, he was ranked 4th dan and directed instruction of soldiers in Vietnam. Park moved to Canada where he met his future wife, Linda, in Toronto in 1970. During

254-520: A Joint Security Area at Panmunjom . The conflict caused more than 1 million military deaths and an estimated 2 to 3 million civilian deaths, a larger proportion of civilian deaths than in World War II or the Vietnam War . Alleged war crimes include the mass killing of suspected communists by Seoul and the torture and starvation of prisoners of war by Pyongyang. North Korea became one of

381-640: A considerable number of properties were destroyed by Korean residents. Republic of China further alleged the Japanese authorities in Korea did not take adequate steps to protect the lives and property of the Chinese residents, and blamed the authorities for allowing inflammatory accounts to be published. As a result of this riot, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kijūrō Shidehara , who insisted on Japanese, Chinese, and Korean harmony, lost his position. In 1911,

508-569: A future independent state. Due to political disagreements and influence from their backers, the zones formed their own governments in 1948. The DPRK was led by Kim Il Sung in Pyongyang , and the ROK by Syngman Rhee in Seoul ; both claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea and engaged in border clashes as internal unrest was fomented by communist groups in the south. On 25 June 1950,

635-509: A general attack across the 38th parallel, rather than a limited operation in Ongjin. Kim was concerned that South Korean agents had learned about the plans and that South Korean forces were strengthening their defenses. Stalin agreed to this change. While these preparations were underway in the North, there were clashes along the 38th parallel, especially at Kaesong and Ongjin, many initiated by

762-596: A national political constitution on 17 July and elected Syngman Rhee as president on 20 July. The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established on 15 August 1948. In the Soviet-Korean Zone of Occupation, the Soviets agreed to the establishment of a communist government led by Kim Il Sung. The 1948 North Korean parliamentary elections took place in August. The Soviet Union withdrew its forces in 1948 and

889-401: A new surname to be used in the family register. The surname could be of their own choosing, including their native clan name, but in practice many Koreans received a Japanese surname. There is controversy over whether or not the adoption of a Japanese surname was effectively mandatory, or merely strongly encouraged. From 1939, labor shortages as a result of conscription of Japanese men for

1016-641: A number of irregular civilian militias called "righteous armies" arose. They consisted of tens of thousands of peasants engaged in anti-Japanese armed rebellion. After the Korean army was disbanded in 1907, former soldiers joined the armies and fought the Japanese army at Namdaemun . They were defeated, and largely fled into Manchuria, where they joined the guerrilla resistance movement that persisted until Korea's 1945 liberation. As Korean resistance against Japanese rule intensified, Japanese replaced Korean police system with their military police. Infamous Akashi Motojiro

1143-631: A protectorate of China , forced opening of three Korean ports to Japanese trade, granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens, and was an unequal treaty signed under duress ( gunboat diplomacy ) of the Ganghwa Island incident of 1875. The regent Daewongun , who remained opposed to any concessions to Japan or the West, helped organize the Mutiny of 1882, an anti-Japanese outbreak against Queen Min and her allies. Motivated by resentment of

1270-419: A representative consultant for Ryohei Uchida , and was used for propaganda with the support of the Japanese government. On 3 December 1909, he and Lee Wan-yong will issue a statement demanding the annexation of Korea. However, the merger took place in the form of Japan's annexation of Korean territory and was disbanded by Terauchi Masatake on 26 September 1910. During the prelude to the 1910 annexation,

1397-615: A telegram. Mao accepted the decision made by Kim and Stalin to unify Korea but cautioned Kim over possible US intervention. Soviet generals with extensive combat experience from World War II were sent to North Korea as the Soviet Advisory Group. They completed plans for attack by May and called for a skirmish to be initiated in the Ongjin Peninsula on the west coast of Korea. The North Koreans would then launch an attack to capture Seoul and encircle and destroy

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1524-674: A total population of over 21 million, less than 3%. By 1939 the Japanese population increased to 651,000, mostly from Japan's western prefectures. During the same period, the population in Chōsen grew faster than that in the naichi . Koreans also migrated to the naichi in large numbers, especially after 1930; by 1939 there were over 981,000 Koreans living in Japan. Challenges which deterred Japanese from migrating into Chōsen included lack of arable land and population density comparable to that of Japan. Japan sent anthropologists to Korea who took photos of

1651-629: Is exemplified in the legacy of Park Chung Hee , South Korea's most influential and controversial president, who collaborated with the Japanese military and continued to praise it even after the colonial period. Until 1964, South Korea and Japan had no functional diplomatic relations, until they signed the Treaty on Basic Relations , which declared "already null and void " the past unequal treaties, especially those of 1905 and 1910. Despite this, relations between Japan and South Korea have oscillated between warmer and colder periods, often due to conflicts over

1778-521: Is overrun by unprovoked armed attack would start a disastrous chain of events leading most probably to world war." While there was hesitance by some in the US government to get involved, considerations about Japan fed into the decision to engage on behalf of South Korea. After the fall of China to the communists, US experts saw Japan as the region's counterweight to the Soviet Union and China. While there

1905-630: Is survived by his wife and their children: Juliann, Heather, and Christopher. Linda Park succeeded her husband as President of the GTF, and holds honorary 9th dan ranking. Park is listed as a pioneer in Canada (1970s) in Chang Keun Choi 's list of taekwondo pioneers. Korea under Japanese rule From 1910 to 1945, Korea was occupied by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen ( 朝鮮 ),

2032-475: The Cold War between the Soviet Union and US. Fighting ended in 1953 with an armistice but no peace treaty , leading to the ongoing Korean conflict characterized by phases of diplomacy and confrontation. After the end of World War II in 1945, Korea, which had been a Japanese colony for 35 years, was divided by the Soviet Union and the US into two occupation zones at the 38th parallel , with plans for

2159-658: The Donghak Peasant Revolution in 1894 provided a seminal pretext for direct military intervention by Japan in the affairs of Korea. In April 1894, Joseon asked for Chinese assistance in ending the revolt. In response, Japanese leaders, citing a violation of the Convention of Tientsin as a pretext, decided upon military intervention to challenge China. On 3 May 1894, 1,500 Qing forces appeared in Incheon . On 23 July 1894, Japan attacked Seoul in defiance of

2286-629: The Gando Massacre , Kantō Massacre , Jeamni massacre , and Shinano River incident . While the international consensus is that these incidents all occurred, various Japanese scholars and politicians, including Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike , either deny completely, attempt to justify, or downplay incidents such as these. Beginning in 1939 and during World War II , Japan mobilized around 5.4 million Koreans to support its war effort. Many were moved forcefully from their homes, and set to work in generally extremely poor working conditions, although there

2413-597: The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1882 indemnified the families of the Japanese victims, paid reparations to the Japanese government in the amount of 500,000 yen, and allowed a company of Japanese guards to be stationed at the Japanese legation in Seoul. The struggle between the Heungseon Daewongun's followers and those of Queen Min was further complicated by competition from a Korean independence faction known as

2540-559: The Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 . The territory was then administered by the Governor-General of Chōsen , based in Keijō (Seoul), until the end of the colonial period. Japan made sweeping changes in Korea. It began a process of Japanization , eventually functionally banning the use of Korean names and the Korean language altogether. Tens of thousands of cultural artifacts were taken to Japan, and hundreds of historic buildings like

2667-542: The Korean People's Army (KPA), equipped and trained by the Soviets, launched an invasion of the south. In the absence of the Soviet Union's representative, the UN Security Council denounced the attack and recommended member states to repel the invasion. UN forces comprised 21 countries, with the US providing around 90% of military personnel. Seoul was captured on 28 June, and by early August,

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2794-549: The Minister of War of Japan , Terauchi Masatake , was given a mission to finalize Japanese control over Korea after the previous treaties (the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1904 and the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1907 ) had made Korea a protectorate of Japan and had established Japanese hegemony over Korean domestic politics. On 22 August 1910, Japan effectively annexed Korea with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 signed by Ye Wanyong , Prime Minister of Korea, and Terauchi Masatake, who became

2921-683: The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) and its allies were nearly defeated, holding onto only the Pusan Perimeter in the peninsula's southeast. On 15 September, UN forces landed at Inchon near Seoul, cutting off KPA troops and supply lines. UN forces broke out from the perimeter on 18 September, re-captured Seoul, and invaded North Korea in October, capturing Pyongyang and advancing towards the Yalu River —the border with China. On 19 October,

3048-679: The atomic bombing of Hiroshima . By 10 August, the Red Army had begun to occupy the north of Korea. On 10 August in Washington , US Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III were assigned to divide Korea into Soviet and US occupation zones and proposed the 38th parallel as the dividing line. This was incorporated into the US General Order No. 1 , which responded to the Japanese surrender on 15 August. Explaining

3175-557: The "Japanese empire pressured the outcry of the Korean Empire and people and forced by Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 and full text of a treaty was false and text of the agreement was also false". They also declared the "Process and formality of "Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910" had huge deficiencies and therefore the treaty was null and void. This implied the March First Movement was not an illegal movement. From around

3302-648: The 1970s, Park established the Manitoba Tae Kwon-Do Association. In 1975, he was ranked 6th dan . In 1978 and 1979, he accompanied Choi on taekwondo demonstration tours in Europe. In 1984, he conducted a seminar in Brisbane, Australia. At the time, he was ranked 8th dan in the ITF. In November 1984, Park was elected Secretary-General of the ITF. He also held the position of Technical Chairman of

3429-506: The 38th parallel and establishing English as the official language during military control. On 8 September, US Lieutenant General John R. Hodge arrived in Incheon to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel. Appointed as military governor, Hodge directly controlled South Korea as head of the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK 1945–48). In December 1945, Korea

3556-530: The 38th parallel. Armistice negotiations began in July 1951, but dragged on as the fighting became a war of attrition and the north suffered heavy damage from U.S. bombing . Combat ended on 27 July 1953 with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement , which allowed the exchange of prisoners and created a 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) wide Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) along the frontline, with

3683-694: The Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA) crossed the Yalu and entered the war on the side of the north. UN forces retreated from North Korea in December, following the PVA's first and second offensive . Communist forces captured Seoul again in January 1951 before losing it to a UN counter-offensive two months later. After an abortive Chinese spring offensive , UN forces retook territory roughly up to

3810-705: The Chinese Civil War, while US forces remained stationed in South Korea. By spring 1950, he believed that the strategic situation had changed: PLA forces under Mao Zedong had secured final victory, US forces had withdrawn from Korea, and the Soviets had detonated their first nuclear bomb , breaking the US monopoly. As the US had not directly intervened to stop the communists in China, Stalin calculated they would be even less willing to fight in Korea, which had less strategic significance. The Soviets had cracked

3937-718: The Chinese PLA during the war. North Korea also provided the Chinese Communists in Manchuria with a safe refuge for non-combatants and communications with the rest of China. The North Korean contributions to the Chinese Communist victory were not forgotten after the creation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. As a token of gratitude, between 50,000 and 70,000 Korean veterans who served in

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4064-519: The ITF. Park founded the Global Taekwondo Federation (GTF) on 14 June 1990, the year after his departure from the ITF due to North–South Korean political issues. He created six additional hyung to be practised along with the earlier ITF patterns. Amongst those who affiliated with the GTF was Sabree Salleh in 1998. Shortly before he died, Park promoted Salleh to 9th dan (GTF). Park died on 11 April 2002 due to poor health, and

4191-721: The Imperial Palace on 20 September 1905, to seek political support from the United States despite her diplomatic rudeness. However, it was after exchanging opinions through the Taft–Katsura agreement on 27 July 1905, that America and Japan would not interfere with each other on colonial issues. Under the Treaty of Portsmouth , signed in September 1905, Russia acknowledged Japan's "paramount political, military, and economic interest" in Korea. Two months later, Korea

4318-464: The Japanese government took stronger measures. On 19 July 1907, Emperor Gojong was forced to relinquish his imperial authority and appoint the Crown Prince as regent. Japanese officials used this concession to force the accession of the new Emperor Sunjong following abdication, which was never agreed to by Gojong. Neither Gojong nor Sunjong were present at the 'accession' ceremony. Sunjong was to be

4445-551: The Japanese reading of " Joseon ". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea ( Joseon ) and Japan had been under policies of isolationism , with Joseon being a tributary state of Qing China . However, in 1854, Japan was forcefully opened by the United States . It then rapidly modernized under the Meiji Restoration , while Joseon continued to resist foreign attempts to open it up. Japan eventually succeeded in opening Joseon with

4572-629: The Korean Imperial Museum in 1908 to preserve the treasures in the Gyeongbokgung , was retained under the Japanese administration but renamed Museum of the Yi Dynasty in 1938. The Governor-General instituted a law in 1933 in order to preserve Korea's most important historical artifacts. The system established by this law, retained as the present-day National Treasures of South Korea and National Treasures of North Korea ,

4699-489: The Korean government had been advised by the Japanese government "that hereafter the police matters of Seoul will be controlled by the Japanese gendarmerie" and "that a Japanese police inspector will be placed in each prefecture". A large number of Koreans organized themselves in education and reform movements, but Japanese dominance in Korea had become a reality. In June 1907, the Second Peace Conference

4826-583: The Korean government's demand for withdrawal, and then occupied it and started the Sino-Japanese War. Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War , and China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895. Among its many stipulations, the treaty recognized "the full and complete independence and autonomy of Korea", thus ending Joseon's tributary relationship with Qing, leading to the proclamation of the full independence of Joseon in 1895. At

4953-484: The North. On 28 June, Rhee ordered the massacre of suspected political opponents in his own country. In five days, the ROK, which had 95,000 troops on 25 June, was down to less than 22,000 troops. In early July, when US forces arrived, what was left of the ROK was placed under US operational command of the United Nations Command . The Truman administration was unprepared for the invasion. Korea

5080-636: The PLA were sent back along with their weapons, and they later played a significant role in the initial invasion of South Korea. China promised to support the North Koreans in the event of a war against South Korea. By 1948, a North Korea-backed insurgency had broken out in the southern half of the peninsula. This was exacerbated by the undeclared border war between the Koreas, which saw division-level engagements and thousands of deaths on both sides. The ROK

5207-726: The Progressive Party ( Gaehwa-dang ), as well as the Conservative faction. While the former sought Japan's support, the latter sought China's support. On 4 December 1884, the Progressive Party, assisted by the Japanese, attempted the Gapsin Coup , in which they attempted to maintain Gojong but replace the government with a pro-Japanese one. They also wished to liberate Korea from Chinese suzerainty. However, this proved short-lived, as conservative Korean officials requested

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5334-502: The ROK had 98,000 soldiers (65,000 combat, 33,000 support), no tanks (they had been requested from the U.S. military, but requests were denied), and a 22-plane air force comprising 12 liaison-type and 10 AT-6 advanced-trainer airplanes. Large U.S. garrisons and air forces were in Japan, but only 200–300 U.S. troops were in Korea. At dawn on 25 June 1950, the KPA crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire. It justified its assault with

5461-532: The ROK. The final stage would involve destroying South Korean government remnants and capturing the rest of South Korea, including the ports. On 7 June 1950, Kim called for a Korea-wide election on 5–8 August 1950 and a consultative conference in Haeju on 15–17 June. On 11 June, the North sent three diplomats to the South as a peace overture, which Rhee rejected outright. On 21 June, Kim revised his war plan to involve

5588-418: The ROKA launched a three-pronged assault on the insurgents in South Cholla and Taegu . By March 1950, the ROKA claimed 5,621 guerrillas killed or captured and 1,066 small arms seized. This operation crippled the insurgency. Soon after, North Korea made final attempts to keep the uprising active, sending battalion-sized units of infiltrators under the commands of Kim Sang-ho and Kim Moo-hyon. The first battalion

5715-426: The South Korean interior intensified; persistent operations, paired with worsening weather, denied the guerrillas sanctuary and wore away their fighting strength. North Korea responded by sending more troops to link up with insurgents and build more partisan cadres; North Korean infiltrators had reached 3,000 soldiers in 12 units by the start of 1950, but all were destroyed or scattered by the ROKA. On 1 October 1949,

5842-422: The South from 5,000 to 1,000. However, Kim Il Sung believed widespread uprisings had weakened the South Korean military and that a North Korean invasion would be welcomed by much of the South Korean population. Kim began seeking Stalin's support for an invasion in March 1949, traveling to Moscow to persuade him. Stalin initially did not think the time was right for a war in Korea. PLA forces were still embroiled in

5969-435: The South, armed by the U.S. military with mostly small arms, but no heavy weaponry. Several generals, such as Lee Kwon-mu , were PLA veterans born to ethnic Koreans in China. While older histories of the conflict often referred to these ethnic Korean PLA veterans as being sent from northern Korea to fight in the Chinese Civil War before being sent back, recent Chinese archival sources studied by Kim Donggill indicate that this

6096-617: The South. The ROK was being trained by the US Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG). On the eve of the war, KMAG commander General William Lynn Roberts voiced utmost confidence in the ROK and boasted that any North Korean invasion would merely provide "target practice". For his part, Syngman Rhee repeatedly expressed his desire to conquer the North, including when US diplomat John Foster Dulles visited Korea on 18 June. Though some South Korean and US intelligence officers predicted an attack, similar predictions had been made before and nothing had happened. The Central Intelligence Agency noted

6223-592: The Soviet Union would not move against US forces in Korea. The Truman administration believed it could intervene in Korea without undermining its commitments elsewhere. On 25 June 1950, the United Nations Security Council unanimously condemned the North Korean invasion of South Korea with Resolution 82 . The Soviet Union, a veto-wielding power , had boycotted Council meetings since January 1950, protesting Taiwan 's occupation of China's permanent seat . The Security Council, on 27 June 1950, published Resolution 83 recommending member states provide military assistance to

6350-428: The UK, and the US decided that "in due course, Korea shall become free and independent". At the Tehran Conference in 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of the victory in Europe . Germany officially surrendered on 8 May 1945, and the USSR declared war on Japan and invaded Manchuria on 8 August 1945, two days after

6477-440: The US in 1949. With the end of the war with Japan , the Chinese Civil War resumed in earnest between the Communists and the Nationalist -led government. While the Communists were struggling for supremacy in Manchuria, they were supported by the North Korean government with matériel and manpower. According to Chinese sources, the North Koreans donated 2,000 railway cars worth of supplies while thousands of Koreans served in

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6604-460: The USAMGIK declared martial law . Citing the inability of the Joint Commission to make progress, the US government decided to hold an election under UN auspices to create an independent Korea. The Soviet authorities and Korean communists refused to cooperate on the grounds it would not be fair, and many South Korean politicians boycotted it. The 1948 South Korean general election was held in May. The resultant South Korean government promulgated

6731-443: The United States . The legacy of Japanese colonization was hotly contested even just after its end, and is still extremely controversial. There is a significant range of opinions in both South Korea and Japan, and historical topics regularly cause diplomatic issues. Within South Korea, a particular focus is the role of the numerous ethnic Korean collaborators with Japan , who have been variously punished or left alone. This controversy

6858-416: The altar. Having established economic and military dominance in Korea in October 1904, Japan reported that it had developed 25 reforms which it intended to introduce into Korea by gradual degrees. Among these was the intended acceptance by the Korean Financial Department of a Japanese Superintendent, the replacement of Korean Foreign Ministers and consuls by Japanese and the "union of military arms" in which

6985-534: The amount of land taken over by private Japanese companies. Many former Korean landowners, as well as agricultural workers, became tenant farmers , having lost their entitlements almost overnight because they could not pay for the land reclamation and irrigation improvements forced on them. Compounding the economic stresses imposed on the Korean peasantry, the authorities forced Korean peasants to do long days of compulsory labor to build irrigation works; Japanese imperial officials made peasants pay for these projects in

7112-413: The amount they took to eat dropped precipitously, causing much resentment among them. By 1910 an estimated 7 to 8% of all arable land in Korea had come under Japanese control. This ratio increased steadily; as of the years 1916, 1920, and 1932, the ratio of Japanese land ownership increased from 36.8 to 39.8 to 52.7%. The level of tenancy was similar to that of farmers in Japan itself; however, in Korea,

7239-420: The area to that end. The Truman administration still refrained from committing troops on the ground, because advisers believed the North Koreans could be stopped by air and naval power alone. The Truman administration was uncertain whether the attack was a ploy by the Soviet Union, or just a test of US resolve. The decision to commit ground troops became viable when a communiqué was received on 27 June indicating

7366-428: The area". As Rusk's comments indicate, the US doubted whether the Soviets would agree. Joseph Stalin , however, maintained his wartime policy of cooperation, and on 16 August, the Red Army halted at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of US forces. On 7 September 1945, General Douglas MacArthur issued Proclamation No. 1 to the people of Korea, announcing US military control over Korea south of

7493-445: The basis of written proof (deeds, titles, and similar documents). The system denied ownership to those who could not provide such written documentation; these turned out to be mostly high-class and impartial owners who had only traditional verbal cultivator-rights . Japanese landlords included both individuals and corporations (such as the Oriental Development Company ). Because of these developments, Japanese landownership soared, as did

7620-417: The border, starting in May 1949. Border clashes between South and North continued on 4 August 1949, when thousands of North Korean troops attacked South Korean troops occupying territory north of the 38th parallel. The 2nd and 18th ROK Infantry Regiments repulsed attacks in Kuksa-bong, and KPA troops were "completely routed". Border incidents decreased by the start of 1950. Meanwhile, counterinsurgencies in

7747-443: The border, these guerrillas launched an offensive in September aimed at undermining the South Korean government and preparing the country for the KPA's arrival in force. This offensive failed. However, the guerrillas were now entrenched in the Taebaek-san region of the North Gyeongsang Province and the border areas of the Gangwon Province . While the insurgency was ongoing, the ROKA and KPA engaged in battalion-sized battles along

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7874-487: The choice of the 38th parallel, Rusk observed, "Even though it was further north than could be realistically reached by U. S. [ sic ] forces in the event of Soviet disagreement ... we felt it important to include the capital of Korea in the area of responsibility of American troops". He noted that he was "faced with the scarcity of U.S. forces immediately available and time and space factors which would make it difficult to reach very far north before Soviet troops could enter

8001-434: The claim ROK troops attacked first and that the KPA were aiming to arrest and execute the "bandit traitor Syngman Rhee". Fighting began on the strategic Ongjin Peninsula in the west. There were initial South Korean claims that the 17th Regiment had counterattacked at Haeju; some scholars argue the claimed counterattack was instead the instigating attack, and therefore that the South Koreans may have fired first. However,

8128-466: The codes used by the US to communicate with their embassy in Moscow , and reading dispatches convinced Stalin that Korea did not have the importance to the US that would warrant a nuclear confrontation. Stalin began a more aggressive strategy in Asia based on these developments, including promising economic and military aid to China through the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance . In April 1950, Stalin permitted Kim to attack

8255-412: The communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, ethnic Korean units in the PLA were sent to North Korea. In the fall of 1949, two PLA divisions composed mainly of Korean-Chinese troops (the 164th and 166th ) entered North Korea, followed by smaller units throughout the rest of 1949. The reinforcement of the KPA with PLA veterans continued into 1950, with the 156th Division and several other units of

8382-406: The country. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was founded in 1919 in Nationalist China . It failed to achieve international recognition, failed to unite the nationalist groups, and had a fractious relationship with its US-based founding president, Syngman Rhee . From 1919 to 1925 and beyond, Korean communists led internal and external warfare against the Japanese. In China,

8509-451: The defense of Italy and Greece, and the country was first on the list of the National Security Council 's post-North Korea invasion list of "chief danger spots". Truman believed if aggression went unchecked, a chain reaction would start that would marginalize the UN and encourage communist aggression elsewhere. The UN Security Council approved the use of force to help the South Koreans, and the US immediately began using air and naval forces in

8636-509: The economic and military aid promised by the Soviets. Kathryn Weathersby cites Soviet documents which said Kim secured Mao's support. Along with Mark O'Neill, she says this accelerated Kim's war preparations. Chen Jian argues Mao never seriously challenged Kim's plans and Kim had every reason to inform Stalin that he had obtained Mao's support. Citing more recent scholarship, Zhao Suisheng contends Mao did not approve of Kim's war proposal and requested verification from Stalin, who did so via

8763-439: The entire country. Japan was in control of the media, law as well as government by physical power and regulations. In March 2010, 109 Korean intellectuals and 105 Japanese intellectuals met in the 100th anniversary of Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 and they declared this annexation treaty null and void. They declared these statements in each of their capital cities (Seoul and Tōkyō) with a simultaneous press conference. They announced

8890-405: The far-right nationalist group Nippon Kaigi , of which Fumio Kishida and 57% of his cabinet are members, deny that they were forced to work at all, and claim that even the pubescent girls consented to sex work and were compensated reasonably. After the surrender of Japan at the end of the war, Korea was liberated, although it was immediately divided under the rule of the Soviet Union and of

9017-408: The first Governor-General of Chōsen . The treaty became effective the same day and was published one week later. The treaty stipulated: Both the protectorate and the annexation treaties were declared already void in the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea . This period is also known as Military Police Reign Era (1910–19) in which Police had the authority to rule

9144-399: The form of heavy taxes, impoverishing many of them and causing even more of them lose their land. Although many other subsequent developments placed ever greater strain on Korea's peasants, Japan's rice shortage in 1918 was the greatest catalyst for hardship. During that shortage, Japan looked to Korea for increased rice cultivation; as Korean peasants started producing more for Japan, however,

9271-515: The former Fourth Field Army arriving in February; the PLA 156th Division was reorganized as the KPA 7th Division. By mid-1950, between 50,000 and 70,000 former PLA troops had entered North Korea, forming a significant part of the KPA's strength on the eve of the war's beginning. The combat veterans and equipment from China, the tanks, artillery, and aircraft supplied by the Soviets, and rigorous training increased North Korea's military superiority over

9398-584: The government and between 2,976 and 3,392 deaths. By May 1949, both uprisings had been crushed. Insurgency reignited in the spring of 1949 when attacks by guerrillas in the mountainous regions (buttressed by army defectors and North Korean agents) increased. Insurgent activity peaked in late 1949 as the ROKA engaged so-called People's Guerrilla Units. Organized and armed by the North Korean government, and backed by 2,400 KPA commandos who had infiltrated through

9525-629: The government in the South, under the condition that Mao would agree to send reinforcements if needed. For Kim, this was the fulfillment of his goal to unite Korea. Stalin made it clear Soviet forces would not openly engage in combat, to avoid a direct war with the US Kim met with Mao in May 1950 and differing historical interpretations of the meeting have been put forward. According to Barbara Barnouin and Yu Changgeng, Mao agreed to support Kim despite concerns of American intervention, as China desperately needed

9652-582: The government. At 02:00 on 28 June the ROK blew up the Hangang Bridge across the Han River in an attempt to stop the KPA. The bridge was detonated while 4,000 refugees were crossing it, and hundreds were killed. Destroying the bridge trapped many ROK units north of the river. In spite of such desperate measures, Seoul fell that same day. Some South Korean National Assemblymen remained in Seoul when it fell, and 48 subsequently pledged allegiance to

9779-425: The help of Chinese forces stationed in Korea. The coup was put down by Chinese troops, and a Korean mob killed both Japanese officers and Japanese residents in retaliation. Some leaders of the Progressive Party, including Kim Ok-gyun , fled to Japan, while others were executed. For the next 10 years, Japanese expansion into the Korean economy was approximated only by the efforts of tsarist Russia . The outbreak of

9906-729: The historiography of this era. During the period of Japanese colonial rule, Korea was officially known as Chōsen ( 朝鮮 ) , although the former name continued to be used internationally. In South Korea, the period is usually described as the "Imperial Japanese compulsive occupation period" ( Korean :  일제강점기 ; Hanja :  日帝强占期 ; RR :  Ilje Gangjeomgi ). Other terms, although often considered obsolete, include "Japanese Imperial Period" ( 일제시대 ; 日帝時代 ; Ilje Sidae ), "The dark Japanese Imperial Period" ( 일제암흑기 ; 日帝暗黑期 ; Ilje Amheukgi ), and " Wae (Japanese) administration period" ( 왜정시대 ; 倭政時代 ; Wae-jeong Sidae ). In Japan,

10033-582: The influence of China over Korea in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), ushering in the short-lived Korean Empire . A decade later, after defeating Imperial Russia in the Russo-Japanese War , Japan made the Korean Empire its protectorate with the Eulsa Treaty in 1905, then annexed it with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1910 . The Korean Empire fell, and Korea was directly ruled by Japan between 1910–45. Many Korean nationalists fled

10160-874: The insurgent war and border clashes. The first socialist uprising occurred without direct North Korean participation, though the guerrillas still professed support for the northern government. Beginning in April 1948 on Jeju Island , the campaign saw arrests and repression by the South Korean government in the fight against the South Korean Labor Party, resulting in 30,000 violent deaths, among them 14,373 civilians, of whom ~2,000 were killed by rebels and ~12,000 by ROK security forces. The Yeosu–Suncheon rebellion overlapped with it, as several thousand army defectors waving red flags massacred right-leaning families. This resulted in another brutal suppression by

10287-499: The invasion force, the North had 114 fighters, 78 bombers, 105 T-34-85 tanks, and some 30,000 soldiers stationed in reserve in North Korea. Although each navy consisted of only several small warships, the North and South Korean navies fought in the war as seaborne artillery for their armies. In contrast, the South Korean population was estimated at 20 million, but its army was unprepared and ill-equipped. As of 25 June 1950,

10414-554: The involuntary relocation of workers to Japan itself as needed. The combination of immigrants and forced laborers during World War II brought the total to over 2 million Koreans in Japan by the end of the war, according to estimates by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers . Korean War Korean Demilitarized Zone established Together: 1,742,000 The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953)

10541-435: The lack of experts in Korean art at overseas museums and institutions, alterations made to artifacts that obscure their origin, and that moving Korean artifacts within what was previously internationally recognized Japanese territory was lawful at the time. The South Korean government has been continuing its efforts to repatriate Korean artifacts from museums and private collections overseas. The royal palace Gyeongbokgung

10668-571: The landowners were mostly Japanese, while the tenants were all Koreans. As often occurred in Japan itself, tenants had to pay over half their crop in rent. By the 1930s the growth of the urban economy and the exodus of farmers to the cities had gradually weakened the hold of the landlords. With the growth of the wartime economy throughout the Second World War , the government recognized landlordism as an impediment to increased agricultural productivity, and took steps to increase control over

10795-465: The last ruler of the Joseon dynasty, founded in 1392. On 24 July 1907, a treaty was signed under the leadership of Lee Wan-yong and Ito Hirobumi to transfer all rights of Korea to Japan . This led to a large-scale righteous army movement among Koreans, and disbanded troops joined the resistance forces. Japan's response to this was a scorched earth tactic using division-sized troops, which resulted in

10922-506: The military efforts of World War II led to organized official recruitment of Koreans to work in mainland Japan, initially through civilian agents, and later directly, often involving elements of coercion. As the labor shortage increased, by 1942, the Japanese authorities extended the provisions of the National Mobilization Law to include the conscription of Korean workers for factories and mines in Korea, Manchukuo , and

11049-405: The military of Korea would be modeled after the Japanese military. These reforms were forestalled by the prosecution of the Russo-Japanese War from 8 February 1904, to 5 September 1905, which Japan won, thus eliminating Japan's last rival to influence in Korea. Frustrated by this, King Gojong invited Alice Roosevelt Longworth , who was on a tour of Asian countries with William Howard Taft , to

11176-429: The most heavily bombed countries in history, and virtually all of Korea's major cities were destroyed. No peace treaty has been signed, making the war a frozen conflict . In South Korea, the war is usually referred to as the "625 War" ( 6·25 전쟁 ; 六二五戰爭 ), the "625 Upheaval" ( 6·25 동란 ; 六二五動亂 ; yugio dongnan ), or simply "625", reflecting the date of its commencement on 25 June. In North Korea,

11303-511: The movement of armed resistance organizations in Korea to Manchuria. Amid this confusion, on 26 October 1909, Ahn Jung-geun , a former volunteer soldier, assassinated Ito Hirobumi in Harbin . Meanwhile, pro-Japanese populist groups such as the Iljinhoe helped Japan by being fascinated by Japan's pan-Asianism , thinking that Korea would have autonomy like Austria-Hungary . It was adopted as

11430-553: The nationalist National Revolutionary Army and the communist People's Liberation Army (PLA) helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese military, which had also occupied parts of China. The Nationalist-backed Koreans, led by Yi Pom-Sok , fought in the Burma campaign (1941-45). The communists, led by, among others, Kim Il Sung , fought the Japanese in Korea and Manchuria . At the Cairo Conference in 1943, China,

11557-679: The north wing of the palace. The Heungseon Daewongun returned to the royal palace the same day. On 11 February 1896, Gojong and the crown prince fled for protection at the Russian legation in Seoul, from which he governed for about a year. In 1896, various Korean activists formed the Independence Club . They advocated a number of societal reforms, including democracy and a constitutional monarchy, and pushed for closer ties to Western countries in order to counterbalance Japanese influence. It went on to be influential in Korean politics for

11684-520: The operation was conducted under the auspices of the UN. It has been sometimes referred to in the English-speaking world as "The Forgotten War" or "The Unknown War" because of the lack of public attention it received during and afterward, relative to the global scale of World War II, which preceded it, and the subsequent angst of the Vietnam War , which succeeded it. Imperial Japan diminished

11811-528: The peninsula, and not to benefit its people. Most of Korea's infrastructure built during this time was destroyed during the 1950–1953 Korean War . These conditions led to the birth of the Korean independence movement , which acted both politically and militantly sometimes within the Japanese Empire, but mostly from outside of it. Koreans were also subjected to a number of mass murders, including

11938-504: The preferential treatment given to newly trained troops, the Daewongun's forces, or "old military", killed a Japanese training cadre, and attacked the Japanese legation . Japanese diplomats, policemen, students, and some Min clan members were also killed during the incident. The Daewongun was briefly restored to power, only to be forcibly taken to China by Chinese troops dispatched to Seoul to prevent further disorder. In August 1882,

12065-675: The proclamation "Matter Concerning the Changing of Korean Names" ( 朝鮮人ノ姓名改称ニ関スル件 ) was issued, barring ethnic Koreans from taking Japanese names and retroactively reverting the names of Koreans who had already registered under Japanese names back to the original Korean ones. By 1939, however, this position was reversed and Japan's focus had shifted towards cultural assimilation of the Korean people; Imperial Decree 19 and 20 on Korean Civil Affairs ( Sōshi-kaimei ) went into effect, whereby ethnic Koreans were forced to surrender their traditional use of clan-based Korean family name system, in favor of

12192-494: The report that contained the Haeju claim contained errors and outright falsehoods. KPA forces attacked all along the 38th parallel within an hour. The KPA had a combined arms force including tanks supported by heavy artillery. The ROK had no tanks, anti-tank weapons, or heavy artillery. The South Koreans committed their forces in a piecemeal fashion, and these were routed in a few days. On 27 June, Rhee evacuated Seoul with some of

12319-434: The royal palaces Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung were either partially or completely demolished. Japan also built infrastructure and industry. Railways, ports and roads were constructed, although in numerous cases workers were subjected to extremely poor working circumstances and discriminatory pay. While Korea's economy grew under Japan, many argue that many of the infrastructure projects were designed to extract resources from

12446-541: The rural sector through the formation in Japan in 1943 of the Central Agricultural Association ( 中央農会 , chūō nōkai ) , a compulsory organization under the wartime command economy . The Japanese government had hoped emigration to its colonies would mitigate the population boom in the naichi (内地), but had largely failed to accomplish this by 1936. According to figures from 1934, Japanese in Chōsen numbered approximately 561,000 out of

12573-579: The same time, Japan suppressed the peasant revolt with Korean government forces. The Japanese minister to Korea, Miura Gorō , orchestrated a plot against 43-year-old Queen Min (later given the title of " Empress Myeongseong "), and on 8 October 1895, she was assassinated by Japanese agents. In 2001, Russian reports on the assassination were found in the archives of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation. The documents included

12700-509: The short time that it operated, to the chagrin of Gojong. Gojong eventually forcefully disbanded the organization in 1898. In October 1897, Gojong returned to the palace Deoksugung , and proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire at the royal altar Hwangudan . This symbolicly asserted Korea's independence from China, especially as Gojong demolished a reception hall that was once used to entertain Chinese ambassadors in order to build

12827-599: The short-lived Korean Empire . Japan then defeated Russia in the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War , making it the sole regional power. It then moved quickly to fully absorb Korea. It first made Korea a protectorate with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 , and then ruled the country indirectly through the Japanese Resident-General of Korea . After forcing the Korean Emperor Gojong to abdicate in 1907, Japan then formally colonized Korea with

12954-522: The small town of Wanpaoshan in Manchuria near Changchun , "violent clashes" broke out between the local Chinese and Korean immigrants on 2 July 1931. The Chosun Ilbo , a major Korean newspaper, misreported that many Koreans had died in the clashes, sparking a Chinese exclusion movement in urban areas of the Korean Peninsula. The worst of the rioting occurred in Pyongyang on 5 July. Approximately 127 Chinese people were killed, 393 wounded, and

13081-444: The southward movement by the KPA but assessed this as a "defensive measure" and concluded an invasion was "unlikely". On 23 June UN observers inspected the border and did not detect that war was imminent. Chinese involvement was extensive from the beginning, building on previous collaboration between the Chinese and Korean communists during the Chinese Civil War. Throughout 1949 and 1950, the Soviets continued arming North Korea. After

13208-483: The term " Chosŏn War" ( Chinese : 朝鮮戰爭 ; pinyin : Cháoxiǎn Zhànzhēng ) is sometimes used unofficially. The term " Hán (Korean) War" ( Chinese : 韓戰 ; pinyin : Hán Zhàn ) is most used in Taiwan (Republic of China), Hong Kong and Macau . In the US, the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a " police action " as the US never formally declared war on its opponents, and

13335-501: The term "Chōsen of the Japanese-Governed Period" ( 日本統治時代の朝鮮 , Nippon Tōchi-jidai no Chōsen ) has been used. On 27 February 1876, the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 was signed. It was designed to open up Korea to Japanese trade, and the rights granted to Japan under the treaty were similar to those granted Western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry in 1854. The treaty ended Korea's status as

13462-512: The testimony of King Gojong, several witnesses of the assassination, and Karl Ivanovich Weber 's report to Aleksey Lobanov-Rostovsky , the Foreign Minister of Russia, by Park Jonghyo. Weber was the chargé d'affaires at the Russian legation in Seoul at that time. According to a Russian eyewitness, Seredin-Sabatin, an employee of the king, a group of Japanese agents entered Gyeongbokgung , killed Queen Min, and desecrated her body in

13589-505: The time of the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895, Japanese merchants started settling in towns and cities in Korea seeking economic opportunity. By 1908 the number of Japanese settlers in Korea was somewhere below the figure of 500,000, comprising one of the nikkei communities in the world at the time. Many Japanese settlers showed interest in acquiring agricultural land in Korea even before Japanese land-ownership

13716-627: The traditional state of Korean villages, serving as evidence that Korea was "backwards" and needed to be modernized. In 1925, the Japanese government established the Korean History Compilation Committee , and it was administered by the Governor-General and engaged in collecting Korean historical materials and compiling Korean history. According to the Doosan Encyclopedia , some mythology

13843-425: The unequal Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 . Afterwards, Japan embarked on a decades-long process of defeating its local rivals, securing alliances with Western powers, and asserting its influence in Korea. Japan assassinated the defiant Korean queen and intervened in the Donghak Peasant Revolution . After Japan defeated China in the 1894–1895 First Sino–Japanese War , Joseon became nominally independent and declared

13970-572: The war is officially referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War ( Choguk haebang chŏnjaeng ) or the " Chosŏn [Korean] War" ( 조선전쟁 ; Chosŏn chŏnjaeng ). In mainland China, the segment of the war after the intervention of the People's Volunteer Army is commonly and officially known as the "Resisting America and Assisting Korea War" ( Chinese : 抗美援朝战争 ; pinyin : Kàngměi Yuáncháo Zhànzhēng ), although

14097-421: Was a range in what people experienced. Some Japanese politicians and scholars, including former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida , deny that Koreans were forced laborers, and instead claim that they were "requisitioned against their will" to work. Women and girls aged 12–17 were controversially forced into sexual slavery by Japan as " comfort women ". A number of modern Japanese scholars and politicians, notably from

14224-622: Was administered by a US–Soviet Union Joint Commission , as agreed at the Moscow Conference , to grant independence after a five-year trusteeship. Waiting five years for independence was unpopular among Koreans, and riots broke out. To contain them, the USAMGIK banned strikes on 8 December and outlawed the PRK Revolutionary Government and People's Committees on 12 December. Following further civilian unrest,

14351-414: Was almost entirely trained and focused on counterinsurgency, rather than conventional warfare. They were equipped and advised by a force of a few hundred American officers, who were successful in helping the ROKA to subdue guerrillas and hold its own against North Korean military (Korean People's Army, KPA) forces along the 38th parallel. Approximately 8,000 South Korean soldiers and police officers died in

14478-608: Was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was supported by the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union , while South Korea was supported by the United Nations Command (UNC) led by the United States . The conflict was thus the first major proxy war of

14605-567: Was appointed for the commander of Japanese military police forces. Japanese finally replaced Imperial Korean police forces in June 1910, and they combined police forces and military police, firmly establishing the rule of military police. After the annexation, Akashi started to serve as the Chief of Police. These military police officers started to have great authority over Koreans. Not only Japanese but also Koreans served as police officers. In May 1910,

14732-527: Was held in The Hague . Emperor Gojong secretly sent three representatives to bring the problems of Korea to the world's attention. The three envoys, who questioned the legality of the protectorate convention, were refused access to the public debates by the international delegates. One of these representatives was missionary and historian Homer Hulbert . Out of despair, one of the Korean representatives, Yi Tjoune , committed suicide at The Hague. In response,

14859-458: Was incorporated. The committee supported the theory of a Japanese colony on the Korean Peninsula called Mimana , which, according to E. Taylor Atkins, is "among the most disputed issues in East Asian historiography." Japan executed the first modern archaeological excavations in Korea. The Japanese administration also relocated some artifacts; for instance, a stone monument (棕蟬縣神祠碑), which

14986-482: Was intended to preserve Korean historical artifacts, including those not yet unearthed. Japan's 1871 Edict for the Preservation of Antiquities and Old Items could not be automatically applied to Korea due to Japanese law, which required an imperial ordinance to apply the edict in Korea. The 1933 law to protect Korean cultural heritages was based on the Japanese 1871 edict. Due to a waterway construction permit, in

15113-498: Was no US policy dealing with South Korea directly as a national interest, its proximity to Japan increased its importance. Said Kim: "The recognition that the security of Japan required a non-hostile Korea led directly to President Truman's decision to intervene ... The essential point ... is that the American response to the North Korean attack stemmed from considerations of U.S. policy toward Japan." Another consideration

15240-401: Was not included in the strategic Asian Defense Perimeter outlined by United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson . Military strategists were more concerned with the security of Europe against the Soviet Union than that of East Asia . The administration was worried a war in Korea could quickly escalate without American intervention. Diplomat John Foster Dulles stated: "To sit by while Korea

15367-770: Was not the case. Rather, the soldiers were indigenous to China, as part of China's longstanding ethnic Korean community, and were recruited to the PLA in the same way as any other Chinese citizen. According to the first official census in 1949, the population of North Korea numbered 9,620,000, and by mid-1950, North Korean forces numbered between 150,000 and 200,000 troops, organized into 10 infantry divisions, one tank division, and one air force division, with 210 fighter planes and 280 tanks, who captured scheduled objectives and territory, among them Kaesong, Chuncheon , Uijeongbu , and Ongjin. Their forces included 274 T-34-85 tanks, 200 artillery pieces, 110 attack bombers, 150 Yak fighter planes, and 35 reconnaissance aircraft. In addition to

15494-539: Was obliged to become a Japanese protectorate by the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1905 and the "reforms" were enacted, including the reduction of the Korean Army from 20,000 to 1,000 men by disbanding all garrisons in the provinces, retaining only a single garrison in the precincts of Seoul. On 6 January 1905, Horace Allen, head of the American Legation in Seoul reported to his Secretary of State, John Hay, that

15621-434: Was officially legalized in 1906. Governor-General Terauchi Masatake facilitated settlement through land reform . The Korean land-ownership system featured absentee landlords, only partial owner-tenants and cultivators with traditional (but no legal proof of) ownership. By 1920, 90 percent of Korean land had proper ownership of Koreans. Terauchi's new Land Survey Bureau conducted cadastral surveys that established ownership on

15748-571: Was originally located in the Liaodong Peninsula , then under Japanese control , was taken out of its context and moved to Pyongyang . As of April 2020, 81,889 Korean cultural artifacts are in Japan. According to the Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, not all the artifacts were moved illegally. Adding to the challenge of repatriating illegally exported Korean cultural properties is

15875-798: Was partially destroyed beginning in the 1910s, in order to make way for the Japanese General Government Building as well as the colonial Chōsen Industrial Exhibition . Hundreds of historic buildings in Deoksugung were also destroyed to make way for the Yi Royal Family Museum of Fine Art  [ ko ] . The displays in the museum reportedly intentionally contrasted traditional Korean art with examples of modern Japanese art, in order to portray Japan as progressive and legitimize Japanese rule. The National Palace Museum of Korea , originally built as

16002-498: Was reduced to a single man over the course of engagements by the ROKA 8th Division . The second was annihilated by a two-battalion hammer-and-anvil maneuver by units of the ROKA 6th Division , resulting in a toll of 584 KPA guerrillas (480 killed, 104 captured) and 69 ROKA troops killed, plus 184 wounded. By the spring of 1950, guerrilla activity had mostly subsided; the border, too, was calm. By 1949, South Korean and US military actions had reduced indigenous communist guerrillas in

16129-605: Was the Soviet reaction if the US intervened. The Truman administration was fearful a Korean war was a diversionary assault that would escalate to a general war in Europe once the US committed in Korea. At the same time, "[t]here was no suggestion from anyone that the United Nations or the United States could back away from [the conflict]". Yugoslavia —a possible Soviet target because of the Tito-Stalin split —was vital to

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