Korea

Korea is an East Asian country that is currently divided into two separate states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggest the origins of the Korean people were Altaic language-speaking people from south-central Siberia, who populated ancient Korea in successive waves from the Neolithic age to the Bronze Age. The adoption of the Chinese writing system in the 2nd century BC, and Buddhism in the 4th century AD, had profound effects on the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Korea was united by Emperor Taejo of the Goryeo Dynasty in 936. Mongols conquered Korea in 1259, their rule lasting for nearly 100 years. In 1392 General Yi Song-gye, a former Koryo general, seized power and established the Choson (Yi) dynasty, which governed until 1910.  A centralized administrative system was set up, and Confucianism was adopted as the official ethical system.

The Japanese invaded Korea in 1592 and 1597 and finally were driven off, with Chinese aid, in 1598.  Beginning in the 1600s, Korea became increasingly isolationist, as its rulers sought to close the country to all foreign contact.  In the 17th century the Manchus defeated the Ming dynasty, and Korea was forced to pay tribute to the new rulers of China.  By the mid-19th century, the peninsula had become an area of dispute and conflict between China and Japan.  Japan increased its influence in Korea following its successful war with China in 1894–95, and in 1910 it annexed the peninsula as a colony.  The Japanese administered Korea almost entirely to their own benefit, seizing land and businesses and establishing industries.

As part of the Japanese surrender after World War II, troops of the Soviet Union occupied Korea north of latitude 38° N, while U.S. forces occupied the area south of it.  The Soviet Union withdrew in 1948, and the United States withdrew the following year.  North Korea, which sought to unify the peninsula by military force, launched a surprise invasion of South Korea on June 25, 1950, initiating the Korean War.  UN troops, composed primarily of U.S. soldiers, intervened on the side of South Korea; Chinese soldiers eventually reinforced the North Korean army.  On July 27, 1953, after several years of military stalemate, an armistice was signed.  The cease-fire line, which roughly followed 38° N, became a demilitarized zone between the two states.