Concept

Korean reunification

Summary
Korean reunification () is the potential unification of North Korea and South Korea into a single Korean sovereign state. The process towards reunification of the peninsula while still maintaining two opposing regimes was started by the June 15th North–South Joint Declaration in June 2000, was reaffirmed by the October 4th Declaration in October 2007 and the Panmunjom Declaration in April 2018, and the joint statement of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un at the Singapore Summit in June 2018. In the Panmunjom Declaration, the two countries agreed to work to officially end the Korean conflict in the future. Prior to World War I and Japan's annexation of Korea (1910–1945), all of Korea had been unified as a single state for centuries, known previously as the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and the penultimate state, the Korean Empire. After the end of World War II in 1945 and during the beginning of the Cold War, Korea had a unified government, the People's Republic of Korea. However, this would be brief and serve as the last government, as Korea was divided into two countries along the 38th parallel (now the Korean Demilitarized Zone) in 1948. After World War II, North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union, and later administered by the Workers' Party of Korea under Kim Il Sung. South Korea was occupied by the United States, later becoming independent under Syngman Rhee. Both governments of the two new Korean states claimed to be the sole legitimate government of all of Korea. In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, quickly capturing most of South Korea before being pushed back by a United Nations force composed primarily of U.S. and South Korean soldiers, who then captured most of North Korea, before Chinese intervention pushed them back. The war ended in a stalemate in July 1953. Even after the end of the Korean War, reunification proved a challenge as the two countries increasingly diverged at a steady pace.
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