The Division of Korea and Task for Unification.docVIP

The Division of Korea and Task for Unification Subject:Korean Politics and Diplomacy in the Global Society Professor:Kang-nyeong Kim Student:?? Submission Date: Nov.30, 2013 Contents Ⅰ.Introduction………………………… 2 Ⅱ.History of the Division of Korea ……………………………… 3 Ⅲ.The Current Status of Inter-Korean Relation …………………………… 9 Ⅳ.Prospects and Strategies for Korean Unification…………………………… 11 Ⅴ.Comparison with Germany………… 15 Ⅵ. Conclusion………………………… 17 Ⅶ. References………………………… 19 Ⅰ.Introduction The division of Korea into South Korea and North Korea stems from the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, ending the Empire of Japan’s 35-year colonial rule of Korea. The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to temporarily occupy the country as a trusteeship with the zone of control demarcated along the 38th parallel. From then, more than half a century has already passed since the Korean peninsula was divided into two. The feeling of severance and hostility between the South and the North stemming from the national division have caused great pain and loss to Koreans, who had lived in a single unified nation for over 1,300 years. Korea was divided into two parts against the will of its people. The division was a by-product of the Cold War which rapidly escalated during the Post-World WarⅡ era. It seems clear that the international environment that caused the division in the past has now remarkably changed. With the demise of Cold War that had been characterized by confrontation between states, the international community today is marching into a new era of reconciliation and cooperation. In addition, two other nations which had been divided for decades, Germany and Yemen, have already achieved their unification. This new environment provides both hope and a task for Koreans, whose country now remains the last divided nation of this century that still suffers from the confrontation and conflict of the Cold War. To Koreans, therefore, unificat