A unified Korea was first founded in 668 AD and it remained fairly isolated from outside interference for centuries.
But in the early 20th century the Korean Peninsula was caught in the crossfires of the Russo-Japanese war, after the end of which Japan staked a claim over Korea and annexed the region in 1910.
Japan ruled Korea for 35 long years, they tried to suppress the Korean language and their culture forcing them to adapt to Japanese ways.The brutality only stopped when Japan was defeated in world war 2.In 1945, the USA & USSR combined forces to kick the Japanese out of Korea.
Their main objective was to restore stability in the Korean Peninsula. So they divided the region into 2 parts along the 38th parallel.
USSR controlled the North, while the USA controlled the South.
Russia and America both came to the region with the intention of removing the Japanese out of Korea and giving the region a stable govt.
But the cold war complicated things, the 2 parties could not come to an agreement about which system would be followed in an independent Korea.The USSR wanted a Communist regime in Korea, while the USA wanted a Capitalist Democracy.
This disagreement ensured that Korea would remain split into 2 countries for the foreseeable future.
In 1948 Kim il-Sung came to power in North Korea under a Communist government.
He tried to invade the South in 1950, which forced the South to retaliate, thus beginning the Korean War.
The war lasted for 3 years killing about 2 Million people until an Armistice agreement was signed in 1953.Both the parties agreed to pull back their troops by about 1 mile from the border, thus leading to the formation of the DMZ i.e. The Demilitarized Zone.
Till this date, the border between the 2 Koreas remains one of the most heavily guarded borders in the world.
Life in North Korea
Life in South Korea
Since Independence, South Korea has prospered economically to become a bustling modern Nation while the North has become an authoritarian dictatorship with a crumbling economy.
This has caused many people to flee North Korea. Most of them attempt to do this from the border with China but some brave defectors have managed to do it at the DMZ.
Ethnically the Koreans on both sides of the border are the same people, the division even split hundreds of families. But if you look at the 2 countries today, there is a Stark contrast in their appearance, their culture, and their beliefs. We can only hope that one day we will see a Unified Korea with peace and prosperity.