Korean reunification

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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Related concepts (40)

Division of Korea

The division of Korea began with the defeat and surrender of Japan in World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders considered the question of Korea's future after Japan's surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be liberated from Japan but would be placed under an international trusteeship until the Koreans would be deemed ready for self-rule. In the last days of the war, the U.S. proposed dividing the Korean peninsula into two occupation zones (a U.S.

Korean Demilitarized Zone

The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It was established to serve as a buffer zone between the countries of North Korea and South Korea under the provisions of the Korean Armistice Agreement in 1953, an agreement between North Korea, China, and the United Nations Command. The DMZ is long and about wide.