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The Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face.<br/><br/> The JSA is used by the two Koreas for diplomatic engagements and, until March 1991, was also the site of military negotiations between North Korea and the United Nations Command (UNC).
An image showing the Korean peninsula at night in the year 2012. A composite image, constructed using cloud-free night images taken by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite.<br/><br/> These photographs were taken with the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), and the composite was published by NASA on December 5, 2012.
Park Chung-hee (14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979.<br/><br/> Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as a military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963.<br/><br/> In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic. After surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was eventually assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years.
Park Chung-hee (14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979.<br/><br/> Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as a military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963.<br/><br/> In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic. After surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was eventually assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years.
Park Chung-hee (14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979.<br/><br/> Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as a military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963.<br/><br/> In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic. After surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was eventually assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years.
Park Chung-hee (14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979.<br/><br/> Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as a military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963.<br/><br/> In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic. After surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was eventually assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years.
The Korean War (25 June 1950 - armistice signed 27 July 1953) was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from the Soviet Union. The war was a result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II.<br/><br/>The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part. The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides, and the North established a Communist government. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War.<br/><br/>The United Nations, particularly the United States, came to the aid of South Korea in repelling the invasion. A rapid UN counter-offensive drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the side of the North. The Chinese launched a counter-offensive that pushed the United Nations forces back across the 38th Parallel.<br/><br/>The Soviet Union materially aided the North Korean and Chinese armies. In 1953, the war ceased with an armistice that restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) wide buffer zone between the two Koreas. Minor outbreaks of fighting continue to the present day.
The May 16 coup was a military coup d'état in South Korea in 1961, organized and carried out by Park Chung-hee and his allies who formed the Military Revolutionary Committee, nominally led by Army Chief of Staff Chang Do-yong after the latter's acquiescence on the day of the coup.<br/><br/> The coup rendered powerless the democratically elected government of Yun Bo-seon and ended the Second Republic, installing a reformist military Supreme Council for National Reconstruction effectively led by Park, who took over as Chairman after General Chang's arrest in July.<br/><br/> The coup was instrumental in bringing to power a new developmentalist elite and in laying the foundations for the rapid industrialization of South Korea under Park's leadership, but its legacy is controversial for the suppression of democracy and civil liberties it entailed, and the purges enacted in its wake.
The Korean War (25 June 1950 - armistice signed 27 July 1953) was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from the Soviet Union. The war was a result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II.<br/><br/>The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part. The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides, and the North established a Communist government. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War.<br/><br/>The United Nations, particularly the United States, came to the aid of South Korea in repelling the invasion. A rapid UN counter-offensive drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the side of the North. The Chinese launched a counter-offensive that pushed the United Nations forces back across the 38th Parallel.<br/><br/>The Soviet Union materially aided the North Korean and Chinese armies. In 1953, the war ceased with an armistice that restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) wide buffer zone between the two Koreas. Minor outbreaks of fighting continue to the present day.
Japan began to force Korea out of the Manchu Qing Dynasty's traditional sphere of influence into its own in the 1870s. As a result of the Sino-Japanese War (1894–5), the Qing Dynasty had to give up such a position according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was concluded between China and Japan in 1895. That same year, Korean Empress Myeongseong was assassinated by Japanese agents.<br/><br/> In 1897, the Joseon dynasty proclaimed the Korean Empire (1897–1910), and King Gojong became Emperor Gojong. This brief period saw the partially successful modernisation of the military, economy, real property laws, education system, and various industries, influenced by the political encroachment into Korea of Russia, Japan, France, and the United States.<br/><br/> Imperial Japan assumed control over Korea from 1910 until its defeat in 1945 ended World War II. Korea was one state until 1948, when it was split into North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), and South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea.
Syngman Rhee (April 18, 1875 – July 19, 1965) was a Korean statesman and the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea as well as the first president of South Korea. His three-term presidency of South Korea (August 1948 to April 1960) was strongly affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula.<br/><br/> Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the Korean War. His presidency ended in resignation following popular protests against a disputed election. He died in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of more than 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the developed world. The Seoul Capital Area, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, is the world's second largest metropolitan area with over 25.6 million people, home to over half of South Koreans along with 632,000 international residents.<br/><br/>During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the Chinese-backed North Korean forces and the UN-backed South Korean forces several times, leaving the city heavily damaged after the war. One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war, at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, a flood of refugees had entered Seoul during the war, swelling the population of Seoul and its metropolitan area to an estimated 2.5 million, more than half of them homeless.
Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of more than 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the developed world. The Seoul Capital Area, which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province, is the world's second largest metropolitan area with over 25.6 million people, home to over half of South Koreans along with 632,000 international residents.<br/><br/>During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the Chinese-backed North Korean forces and the UN-backed South Korean forces several times, leaving the city heavily damaged after the war. One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war, at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, a flood of refugees had entered Seoul during the war, swelling the population of Seoul and its metropolitan area to an estimated 2.5 million, more than half of them homeless.
Comfort women were women and girls forced into a prostitution corps created by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The name 'comfort women' is a translation of a Japanese name <i>ianfu</i> (慰安婦). Ianfu is a euphemism for <i>shōfu</i> (娼婦) whose meaning is 'prostitute'.<br/><br/> Estimates vary as to how many women were involved, with numbers ranging from as low as 20,000 to as high as 400,000, but the exact numbers are still being researched and debated. Many of the women were from occupied countries, including Korea, China, and the Philippines, although women from Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and other Japanese-occupied territories were used for military brothels.<br/><br/> Stations were located in Japan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, then Malaya, Thailand, Burma, New Guinea, Hong Kong, Macau, and French Indochina. A smaller number of women of European origin from the Netherlands and Australia were also involved.
Syngman Rhee was a Korean statesman, authoritarian dictator, and the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea as well as the first president of South Korea.
The May 16 coup was a military coup d'état in South Korea in 1961, organized and carried out by Park Chung-hee and his allies who formed the Military Revolutionary Committee, nominally led by Army Chief of Staff Chang Do-yong after the latter's acquiescence on the day of the coup.<br/><br/> The coup rendered powerless the democratically elected government of Yun Bo-seon and ended the Second Republic, installing a reformist military Supreme Council for National Reconstruction effectively led by Park, who took over as Chairman after General Chang's arrest in July.<br/><br/> The coup was instrumental in bringing to power a new developmentalist elite and in laying the foundations for the rapid industrialization of South Korea under Park's leadership, but its legacy is controversial for the suppression of democracy and civil liberties it entailed, and the purges enacted in its wake.
Park Chung-hee (14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean president and military general who led South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979.<br/><br/> Park seized power through a military coup d'état that overthrew the Korean Second Republic in 1961 and ruled as a military strongman at the head of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction until his election and inauguration as the President of the Korean Third Republic in 1963.<br/><br/> In 1972, Park declared martial law and recast the constitution into a highly authoritarian document, ushering in the Korean Fourth Republic. After surviving several assassination attempts, including two operations associated with North Korea, Park was eventually assassinated on 26 October 1979 by Kim Jae-gyu, the chief of his own security services. He had led South Korea for 18 years.<br/><br/> Yoon Bo-seon (August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a Korean independence activist and politician, who served as the second President of South Korea from 1960 to 1962 before being replaced by the Park Chung-hee as a result of the May 16 coup in 1961.