North VS South Korea

Not just a current event.

Tuesday November 22

• At approximately 8:50 am (Montreal time) South Korea reported North Korean shells falling off the shores of Yeonpyeong Island.

What possibly led to this…

• "The South Korean enemy, despite our repeated warnings, committed reckless military provocations of firing artillery shells into our maritime territory near Yeonpyeong island beginning 1300 (0400 GMT)," the state-run KCNA news agency quoted it as saying.

North Korea sent out a clear warning:

• The North will strike back if South Korea "dares to invade

our sea territory by 0.001mm"

This is being considered:

• “One of the most serious incidents between the two

nations since the Korean War ended…”

This is by no means, a “recent issue”

• From 1910- end of WWII, the Korean Peninsula was controlled by Japan.

• After WWII, Korea was divided by the Allied forces along the 38th parallel.

On the path to war:

• South Korea was occupied by US troops.

• North Korea was occupied by Soviet troops.

• “Skirmishes” and raids across the border were very common.

The Korean War Begins

• Tensions increased until June 25th 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea.

Beginning of the War

• The United Nations (mainly the United States) helped the South.

• They managed to advance in proximity to the Yalu River.

• It seemed like the South was going to win.

The War Changes Course:

• The People’s Republic of China felt threatened, and began helping the North.

• They moved the United Nations past the 38th parallel.

The End of the War:

• An ARMISTICE was signed, July 27, 1953.

• The border was back where it was when the war had started.

Korean Demilitarized Zone

• It was created at the end of the war.

• It is a 4km wide, 250km long “buffer zone” between North and South Korea.

• It is heavily protected by the military.

The war changed in many ways:

• The conflict went from a civil war to a proxy war between powers involved in a larger Cold War.

• The military tactics started out as swift infantry attacks and air bombings but ended in trench warfare.

Opinions of the War are apparent in the names that the war is given in different areas.

• United States: “The Forgotten War” or “The Unknown War”• South Korea: “6-2-5 War” (The date it started)• North Korea: “Fatherland Liberation War”• China: “War to Resist US Aggression and Aid in Korea”

Reflection Question:

• Look at the different names given to the Korean War.

• How do they reflect the opinions of those countries concerning the war.

North Korean Life

• http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7380306n

Kim Jong-il

• North Korea's supreme ruler • the only communist leader to ever

have inherited power from his father. • known document his affection for the

finer things in life, including lobsters and Hennessy VSOP cognac, and a reputed 20,000 tape film library.

• Mr Kim descrption: vain, paranoid hypochondriac who favours platform shoes and a bouffant hairstyle to increase his 5'3" stature.

• official biography : – born in a log cabin at

his father's guerrilla base on Mount Paektu

– appearance of a double rainbow and a new star in the sky.

• actually born in Siberia, Russia during his father's period of exile from Korea in 1941.

• further developed and refined elements of his father's Juche doctrine of self-sufficiency.

• Details of the exact power structure within North Korea are obscure.

• Western political observers consider it to be an archetypal totalitarian state reminiscent of Stalin's Russia

• combines Juche with more conventional strands of marxist-communism.

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456994/html/nn5page1.stm

Kim Jong-Un

• Declared the next leader after his father’s death Dec 17, 2011

• The media began calling him “another leader sent from the heaven,” a description until now reserved for his father.

Like father like son?• Look up reports on Kim Jong-un• Write down your sources (NO WIKI)• Write about the following:

Describe the current government in North Korea. Introduce the new leader. Explain whether or not you think that the gov’t will continue to function as it has been.

Resources

• http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2011/12/life-inside-north-korea.html

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/guides/456900/456994/html/nn5page1.stm

• http://www.cbsnews.com/1770-5_162-0.html?query=south+korea&tag=srch&searchtype=cbsSearch

• http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/k/kim_jongun/index.html