KOREA: CENTER OF THE DISPUTE BETWEEN TWO POWERS – CHINA/JAPAN.
In 1597, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Japanese military leader who had just reunified his country, invaded Joseon under the pretext of invading China. The national crisis led people from all classes, including Buddhist monks, to enlist to fight the invader.
In 1598, with the help of China, the Koreans forced the aggressors to retreat, and most of Joseon was left in ruins. Many palaces, public buildings, and houses were burned, much of the national treasure was destroyed, and artisans and researchers were kidnapped and deported to Japan.
In the early 17th century, nomadic Manchus invaded Joseon, taking control of the northern part of the territory, captured Seoul in 1636, and demanded the unconditional surrender of the king. In 1640, the Manchus overthrew the Ming dynasty in China and established the Qing. The tribute that Korea paid to the Ming was transferred to the Qing.
During the second half of the 17th century and throughout the 18th century, Korean society underwent significant transformations. Rice farming became popular, and irrigation systems were improved; agricultural production increased, along with the standard of living of the peasants.
The cultivation of tobacco and ginseng boosted both foreign and domestic trade. As a result, contact with European merchants and Catholic priests intensified. Meanwhile, in Korea, radical ideological transformations were taking place. Many scholars shifted from theoretical speculation to reflections on matters of practical relevance.
This gave birth to silhak, or practical learning, which demanded that the government implement necessary reforms. By the end of the 18th century, some silhak scholars had converted to Catholicism, and soon, members of the aristocracy followed suit.
Key sectors of the population, encouraged by the hope of being considered equal before God after death, were seduced by the new religion, which spread rapidly.
The decline of the Yi dynasty was marked by economic and religious factors, compounded by external pressures. The yangban, or nobility, had seized public lands and did not pay taxes, leading the government to increase taxes on the poor who, unable to pay, lost their lands.
The incompatibility between Christianity and Confucianism led the government to persecute Christians. During the persecutions of 1801, 1839, and 1866, converted scholars were forced to die or apostasize, and foreign missionaries were decapitated.
At the same time, Japan pressured Korea to open up to foreign trade, and China increased its interference on the peninsula to counter Japanese influence. In 1860, the scholar Ch’oe-u founded a popular religion, Tonhak (Eastern teachings), which combined elements of Confucianism, Christianity, shamanism, and Buddhism.
Quickly, this new doctrine, under the banner of resistance to foreigners and corruption, gained a large following among peasants, and by 1893, it had become a political movement. In May 1893, Tonhak followers took the city of Chonju in the southwest, and the intervening powers, China and Japan, sent troops to disperse them.
To justify its presence on the peninsula, Japan proposed that China carry out a joint reform in Korea, but the Chinese refusal led the two countries to armed confrontation, resulting in a Japanese victory. Encouraged by having defeated China in 1895 and the Russians, Japan occupied Korea in 1905 and, in 1910, formally annexed it, ending the Yi dynasty.
The location of the Korean peninsula between two rival powers like China and Japan has shaped the nation's history and the idiosyncrasies of its people. Throughout history, its territory has been the scene of frequent power struggles between the armies of China, Mongolia, and Japan.
During the Japanese occupation, Korea was first exploited as a supplier of food and later as a source of cheap labor. Japanese landowners and factory owners settled in Korea and created infrastructure to facilitate the extraction of wealth.
With Japan's defeat in World War II, the Korean ideal of a unified and independent partnership was about to be realized, but the country was once again dragged into a complex struggle in which powerful foreign interests were at stake.
The Korean peninsula was divided into two zones separated by the 38th parallel. The north was occupied by Soviet troops, and the south came under American control. The Soviet Union maintained its influence and did not allow general elections to be held on the peninsula.
In the south, under the supervision of a United Nations Temporary Commission, elections were held in May 1948, and Syngman Rhee was elected the first president of the Republic of Korea, with Seoul as its capital.
However, the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea drafted a new constitution, which was adopted in August 1948. Kim Il-sung was appointed prime minister, and on September 9, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed. What was happening in Asia mirrored what was occurring in Europe with Germany at the time. Most foreign troops withdrew from the two countries the following year. U.S. troops remained in the south under the United Nations flag, which was then under U.S. control.
In June 1950, North Korea launched an offensive against South Korea. The United Nations (UN) called upon all its members to stop the invasion, and the then U.S. President Harry Truman ordered his army to assist South Korea without asking Congress to declare war.
Truman also did not seek permission from the UN to send a fleet to the Taiwan Strait to protect one of the U.S. flanks and assist the anti-communist Chinese regime of Chiang Kai-shek, which had established itself on the island of Taiwan. This fueled Beijing's fear of a nationalist invasion of mainland China.
At that time, the military campaigns on the Korean peninsula were disastrous for the South Koreans, and the U.S. divisions, hastily deployed and poorly equipped, had to retreat to the vicinity of Pusan. The disastrous situation was saved by a maneuver by General Douglas MacArthur, who landed about 160 km south of the 38th parallel, managing to divide and defeat the North Korean troops.
The Chinese, concerned with the Allies' advances, warned that the presence of the United States in North Korea would force them to enter the war. MacArthur ignored this warning and launched the offensive in November called "Home by Christmas." However, China sent 180,000 fighters to Korea, who by mid-December had pushed U.S. troops south of the 38th parallel. On December 31, 1951, China launched a second offensive against South Korea and quickly managed to stabilize positions around the former border.
Due to political and strategic differences, MacArthur was dismissed by Truman. The general had made plans to use nuclear weapons against Chinese cities and advocated for war against China. The fighting wreaked havoc across the peninsula. The city of Seoul changed hands several times. The conflict lasted 17 months and resulted in approximately four million deaths. An armistice was signed in July 1953, the month after the reactivation of the war. From that moment on, Korea remained officially divided by the 38th parallel.
On August 8, 1990, the UN Security Council unanimously approved the admission of the two Koreas as members 160 and 161. On December 13, 1991, the prime ministers Yon Kyon Muk (North Korea) and Chog Won Shik (South Korea) signed an Agreement of Reconciliation, Non-Aggression, Exchange, and Cooperation, considered an important step toward reunification.
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