The Korean War and Unity in the Koreas

I've spoken a few times on the unification of the two Koreas. I've been studying the Korean War lately and I think I can make more educated statements this time. The book I'm reading is Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea by Sheila Miyoshi Jager.

First off, I want to share my surprise about discovering that I really didn't know anything about "6.25" ("Yook-ee-oh", as the fateful day is called in Korea) or the Korean War. Growing up and going to school in America really has not taught me anything about this. I shamefully confess that prior to reading the book, even my notion on what "6.25" is was faint.

June 25, 1950 (hence 6.25) was the day the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), under Kim Il Sung and the support of the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea. The United States were suspicious about the North's military strength and didn't take hints of invasion seriously while Syngman Rhee, the first president of the Republic of Korea (the South) was more cautious. And the war began.

I've learned that a lot of the fate of the Koreas were determined by foreign powers, the United States and the Soviet Union. At the end of World War II, only these two nations were interested in the Korean peninsula. By then Korea was also divided by ideology and unification seemed impossible. This problem was solved by the creation of the 38th parallel, the DMZ, which was set by two Americans. It was also two United States army colonels who proposed that the Soviet Union take the north and the United States take the south (U.S. Department of State - Office of the Historian website). Even after Korea's liberation, fueled by President Truman, from Japan, Korea was still in the hands of foreign nations.

Generally speaking, the North was unified in their hatred for Japan and the United States (which had divided Korea with the DMZ line) and ruled in communism with the influence of Soviet Russia. As for the South, they slowly learned to be a republic nation under the influence of the United States. And Kim Il Sung wanted the rest of the Korean peninsula to share in their so-called "equality" and "prosperity" under communism and had invaded. In present day, perhaps the North still feel this way - that the South Koreans are pitiful. But they think because they don't know.

And we all know that the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a treaty, with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north and the Republic of Korea in the South.

In my previous blog post, I had ruled out that unity in Korea would be more difficult because of the clash of two very different ideologies. But now, I wonder why I thought that. The unification of the two Koreas itself is proof that there's no such thing as the clash of ideologies. If the clash of ideologies still persists then there was never unity to start with. And once the two Koreas unite and become one Republic of Korea, those who were brainwashed and uninformed in the North will find out all the truths. If there was a way to instigate unification, then the next step, which is the "de-brainwashing" of the North Koreans would be achieved in no time.

The book I'm reading goes into massive details of background events and the various causes and effects of the war. The big effect of the war remaining today is the Korean peninsula divided at the 38th parallel. I hope one more thing can be added to this Korean War history some day - that there's unity and peace in Korea at last...