Why are there 'two' Koreas?

Courtesy of Alicja Podstolska

Two decades ago, as I packed my bags to come to South Korea and begin a journey that would change my life in unimaginable ways, my grandmother, somewhat proudly, though perhaps also with an air of slight trepidation, told her friends that I was going to South Croatia. For those of you suddenly reaching for a map, the Dalmatian Coast has, to be best of my knowledge, never been divided from the mainland. Korea, however, has been divided in two. What is interesting is that most of my international students have little knowledge as to how, or why, there are two Koreas. They assume it must somehow be because of North Korea – because that is obviously the ‘bad’ Korea.

We have seen Vietnam divided in two (a Communist North and a Capitalist South), Germany divided (on the same ideological lines East and West). Ireland was divided between the Nationalists (and Catholics) in the South and the Unionists (and Protestants) in the North. India and Pakistan also split on religious grounds. Then there is Cyprus and Yemen. Closest to home, following the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalists there retreated to Taiwan while the Communists took the mainland. Like Korea, both sides claimed to be the "true" China for decades.

In every case, the "why" is a complex cocktail of global power, ideology, colonization and local ghosts. Korea is perhaps one of the saddest examples.

A Shrimp Between Empires

Despite what locals might tell you, East Asia was a relatively chill place for centuries. The absolute power of China meant that there was a tributary system in place so while Europe experienced near-constant warfare, shifting from religious crusades to dynastic struggles and finally to massive ideological clashes, East Asia had relative peace. China, the Middle Kingdom, was the top dog. Joseon (Korea) was number two. And Japan, the furthest away from “civilization,” was number three. It was a Confucian hierarchical order that was not to be upset. And, it worked lowkey.

However, one of the hardest thing about an empire or dynasty is succession. The Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) in China, once the most powerful and richest in the world, experienced stagnation, domestic rebellions, British gunboats, and all sorts of other trials that would eventually lead to what they call in Beijing their “Century of Humiliation.” A weak China meant that the regional order suddenly became fragile.

Following their opening up at the hands of American gunboats and the adoption of suits, banks, and post offices in the 1868 Meiji Restoration, Japan became the first country in the region to modernize. This rapid industrialization gave Tokyo a power that far surpassed its neighbors who more stridently clung to the past and tradition. In 1895, Japan then did something unthinkable, they beat China in a war. Number 3 beat Number 1. This war, by the way, happened largely on the Korean Peninsula, in and around Pyongyang. In 1905, Tokyo dumbfounded the international order even more by beating Russia in a war – the first time an Asian country had beaten a European powerhouse. Social Darwinism be damned.

Just as Putin, Trump and Netanyahu do today, Japan demanded tribute and prizes for its militaries victories. They wanted land. The 1905 Taft-Katsura Agreement was a secret diplomatic memorandum between the U.S. and Japan, where the Washington recognized Japan's influence over Korea in exchange for Japan respecting U.S. control over the Philippines. Korea, the shrimp between whales, had foreign wars fought on its soil, and with its own royal family torn between modernizing and staying the Confucian Chinese way, it was taken over by a more powerful neighbor with American consent.

Dark Days and Blinding Light

The Japanese colonization of Korea (1910-1945) is the darkest chapter of this country’s history. A proud people, the people who wore white, were suddenly in the grip of their younger neighbor. Drastic transformations were affected around the country and the people suddenly had a foreign ruler on their land. I have had Korean people on my podcast who lived during this time. They tell me of having to speak Japanese at school, to bow to Tokyo every day, to visit the Japanese shrines, and worship the emperor. Korean language, history, culture and even their own names were slowly disappearing as Japan increased its cultural stranglehold as their war ambitions increased. The legendary Korean artist Paik Nam June who lived during this time said, “When you count in a foreign language, you have to concentrate so hard, you almost forget who you are.”

Japan would eventually lose all of its overseas territories. While there were “domestic righteous armies” in Korea, those who fought guerilla style against their oppressors (Kim Il Sung, the first leader of North Korea, was one), it was once again a foreign power that gave Korea their freedom. And, not for the last time, it was Washington that decided this land’s fate. On August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings resulted in over 200,000 deaths and prompted Japan to announce its surrender on August 15, 1945.

With Japan retreating home, Soviet troops made a beeline for the Peninsula. Having defeated the Nazis in the West, Stalin’s Army, fighting alongside President Truman and the Allies, looked East to Tokyo. The Red Army also wanted some of the land and spoils that would be available after the carnage of World War II. They had the opportunity to take the whole Korean Peninsula as, following the Japanese exodus, and America busy in Japan, the land was once more at the mercy of the powerful. They could have driven south and taken everything but a request came from Washington. To divide Korea and share it between American and Soviet influence. It was a bold ask, considering the Americans had no troops on the ground to back it up. Yet, perhaps tempered by the demonstration of nuclear power just days prior, Stalin agreed to the split, and with a stroke of a foreign pen, a single nation was prepared for its double life.

The Magazine Story

But there were more pens to come. With Korea now to be divided, two American officials in the Pentagon were given the task of coming with how and where to divide the country. Chris Bonesteel and Dean Rusk found themselves staring at a National Geographic map late on a Friday night in August 1945. Neither was an expert on Korea. They hadn’t been there. Didn’t speak the language. But they knew Americans needed a foothold before the whole board turned red.

With no provincial borders on their map to guide them, they looked for the nearest convenient marker. They settled on the 38th parallel. It was an arbitrary line that Rusk later admitted "made no sense," yet it carved a nation in half just to ensure the Americans stayed thirty miles north of the palace gates and had the capital of Seoul. The Soviets would take the larger territory and the factories of the North.

Back in Korea, figures such as Kim Gu and Lyuh Woon-hyung fought for domestic control, and conciliation. Both were assassinated in the years shortly after the division and their deaths ended much hope of a possible third way.

But the thing about this line that was drawn on a National Geographic magazine by two American men in 1945 is that it is still effectively the line that divides Korea today. That line is perhaps the most dangerous line in the world. A potential tripwire for global conflict. The reason men in South Korea do nearly 2 years military service, tourists flock to the DMZ, and Kim Jong Un and his daughter reign in Pyongyang. Germany and Vietnam are united now. The line that divides Korea still remains.

But Why?

One of the burning questions is why Korea? Why not Japan? In World War II, we divided Germany, put the Nazis on trial and executed them, and did our best to ensure that they not attempt anything like that again. But here in East Asia? The Japanese Empire was allowed to continue. The Emperor kept in place. One reason is that America allowed this because they feared the communist domination of the region and made Tokyo promise that it would never allow the ideology to take over Japan. So Washington’s fear of Communism kept Japan whole and divided Korea. Of course, there were other factors but ideology and logistics kept Tokyo whole, and Seoul split from its brothers and sisters in Pyongyang.

It’s dreadfully sad, isn’t it? Of course, there are far more details and nuances than a weekend column can even hope to cover when recounting a near century of history. But the fact is that Korea was divided up continually by outside powers. That’s why it sometimes calls itself the “Shrimp Among Whales.” But considering all that unfair and unjust treatment, isn’t it amazing how they have succeeded? How their technology and culture has amazed the world? That’s the true beauty of Korea. It’s a certain toughness and resilience that you can’t quite understand until you realize what they have been through to get here. And full respect to them for it.