Why Are North And South Korea Divided?
“When whales fight, the shrimp’s back is broken”
For centuries, North and South Korea remained unified and peacefully coexisted due to a shared culture, language, and national identity. Yet, for most of the 20th century, the two Koreas emerged as rivals with an intense level of contempt for each other. With the end of the Second World War, the two Koreas were split across the 38th parallel and have remained at odds.
During the Cold War, the Korean Peninsula became a target of two superpower combatants: the Soviet Union and the United States. “When whales fight, the shrimp’s back is broken” is a famous proverb used by many Koreans to recount the unjust treatment inflicted upon them, which led to its division into two distinct states.
A Unified Korea
Before the division, Korea existed as a solid unified country, but it did not have freedom even then. Generations of dynastic empires have ruled over Korea for the most prolonged periods. Once the age of dynastic empires ended, colonial rule began in Korea. Initially subjugated and officially conquered five years after the Russo-Japanese war, the Japanese colonial rule lasted 35 years.
Michael Robinson, a professor at Indiana University and a Ph.D. in East Asian History, has conducted…
