Korean conflict
| Korean conflict | |||||||||
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| Part of the Cold War and War on Terror | |||||||||
 The Korean DMZ, viewed from the north. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 South Korea |
 North Korea |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Ongoing
The Korean conflict is based on the division between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south, both of which claim to be the government of the whole country. During the Cold War, North Korea was backed by the Soviet Union, China, and other Communist states, and South Korea was backed by the United States and its allies. The division of Korea occurred at the end of World War Two in 1945. Tensions erupted into the Korean War in 1950.
When the war ended, the country was devastated, but the division remained. North and South Korea continued a military standoff with periodic clashes. The conflict survived the collapse of the Eastern Bloc of 1989 to 1991. The USA maintains a military presence in the South to deter an invasion from the North. In 1997, US President Bill Clinton described the division of Korea as the "Cold War's last divide". In 2002, US President George W Bush described North Korea as a member of an "Axis of Evil". Facing increasing isolation, North Korea has begun to develop nuclear missiles.
Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. In the following decades during the Japanese occupation of Korea, nationalist and radical groups emerged, mostly in exile, to struggle for independence. Divergent in their outlooks and approaches, these groups failed to unite in one national movement. Based in China, the Korean Provisional Government failed to obtain widespread recognition. The many leaders agitating for Korean independence included the conservative and American-educated Syngman Rhee, who lobbied the US government, and the Communist Kim Il-sung, who fought a guerrilla war against the Japanese from neighboring Manchuria to the north of Korea. Koreans who remained in their homeland following the annexation were subject to harsh political repression and forced to adhere to Japanese cultural standards as Japan attempted to incorporate Korea.
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