History of North Korea is intriguing and gives an interesting insight into the land. The Korean Peninsula was first populated by people of a Tungusic branch of the Ural-Altaic language family who migrated from the northwestern regions of Asia. History of North Korea has it that the Korean Peninsula was divided into the kingdoms of Shilla, Koguryo and Paekche by the first century AD. It was in the 668 AD when the Shilla kingdom unified the peninsula. The Koryo dynasty succeeded the Shilla kingdom in 935. The word ‘Korea’ is western in etymology and it was derived in the 16th century from the ‘Koryo’ dynasty by the Portuguese missionaries. The Choson dynasty replaced Koryo in 1392 and lasted until Japan annexed Korea in 1910.
Korea has been invaded, influenced and fought over by its neighboring countries. Korea was under Mongolian occupation from 1231 until the early 14th century. In 1592 and 1597, the country faced major invasions led by Hideyoshi Toyotomi, the unifier of Japan. As a reaction against the ‘gunboat’ diplomacy exercised on Korea in the mid-19th century by the western powers, the rulers of Korea adopted a closed-door policy which went on to earn Korea the title of ‘Hermit Kingdom’. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 were results of the competition between Chinese, Japanese and Russian influences. Japan emerged victorious from both the wars annexing Korea in 1910 as part of the growing Japanese empire. Japan remained firmly in control of the Peninsula until the end of World War II in 1945.
According to History of North Korea, the division of Korea into two occupation zones was a direct consequence of the surrender of Japan in August 1945. According to the temporary division, the United States administered the southern half of the peninsula while the U.S.S.R. took over the area to the north of the 38th parallel. But deadlock over the issue regarding the future of Korea led to the United States putting the Korean issue to the UN General Assembly. Politics of the Cold War and domestic opposition to the trusteeship plan fizzled out the hope for a unified, independent Korea and two separate nations were formed in 1948. North Korea or the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was formed on September 9 in 1948 led by then-Premier Kim Il-sung, supported by the U.S.S.R.
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