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This article is about the history of Korea, through the division of Korea before the Korean War. See History of North Korea and History of South Korea for the post-war period. See also Names of Korea.

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History of Korea
Prehistoric period Palaeolithic 700,000 BC-8000 BC Neolithic 8000 BC–1500 BC * Jeulmun Bronze Age 1500 BC–300 BC * Mumun * Liaoning dagger
Ancient period Gojoseon 2333 BC–108 BC * Dangun * Gija * Wiman Jin 4th–2nd century BC Yemaek
Proto–Three Kingdoms period Takri Dongye Buyeo Eastern Galsa Okjeo Samhan Ma Byeon Jin Goguryeo Tamna Nakrang Four Commanderies of Han
Three Kingdoms period Goguryeo 37 BC–668 AD Baekje 18 BC–660 AD Silla 57 BC–935 AD Gaya confederacy 42–562 Tamna (Tributary of Baekje) 498–660 Usan 512–930
Northern and Southern period United Silla (Unified Silla) 668–892 Balhae 698–926 Little Goguryeo 699–820 Tamna (Tributary of Silla) 662–925
Later Three Kingdoms period Later Baekje 892–936 Taebong (Later Goguryeo) 901–918 Unified Silla (Later Silla) 892–935 Later Sabeol 919–927 Dongdan Kingdom 926–936 Later Balhae 927–935 Jeongan 938–986
Dynastic period Goryeo 918–1392 Tamna (Vassal of Goryeo) 938–1105 Heungyo 1029–1030 Joseon 1392–1897 Korean Empire 1897–1910
Colonial period Japanese occupation 1910–1945 Provisional Government 1919–1948
Modern period Military governments 1945–1948 North-South division 1945–present * North 1948–present * South 1948–present
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Prehistory

Archaeological evidence shows that hominins first inhabited the Korean Peninsula 700,000 years ago. Tool-making artifacts from the Palaeolithic period (700,000 BC to 40,000 BC) have been found in present-day North Hamgyong, South P'yongan, Gyeonggi, and north and south Chungcheong Provinces. The people were cave dwellers and built homes, using fire for cooking food and warmth. They hunted, gathered and fished with stone tools.

The earliest known Korean pottery dates back to around 8000 BC or before, and evidence of Mesolithic Pit-Comb Ware culture or Yungimun Pottery (융기문토기) is found throughout the peninsula. An example of a Yungimun-era site is the Gosan-ni in Jeju-do. Jeulmun or Comb-pattern Pottery (즐문토기) is found after 7000 BC, and pottery with comb-patterns over the whole vessel is found concentrated at sites in West-central Korea between 3500-2000 BC, called the Jeulmun pottery period, when the Korean peninsula had numerous settlements. Its pottery was similar to those of the Russian Maritime Province, Mongolia, and the Amur and Sungari River basins of Manchuria.

Gojoseon

Main articles: Gojoseon, Dangun, Gija Joseon

According to the Samguk Yusa, Korea's first kingdom, Gojoseon (then called Joseon, 2333 BCE ? - 2nd Century BCE), was founded by the legendary Dangun in southern Manchuria and northern Korean peninsula. Recent studies indicate that people of Gojoseon belonged to the Tungusic family and were linguistically affiliated with the Altaic. . By 2000 BC, a new pottery culture is evidenced, with painted designs, in Manchuria and northern Korea. Intensive agriculture and complex societies developed during the Mumun pottery period (c. 1500-300 BC).

Although not widely accepted in Korea, some later Chinese records indicate Gija, an uncle of the last King of Shang dynasty, migrated to Gojoseon around the 12th century BC. Many Korean scholars believe the stories of Gija Joseon were embellishments by Chinese historians added later when China and Gojoseon were at war. Some scholars consider Gija Joseon a separate entity coexisting with Gojoseon, possibly as a western fief of Gojoseon, based on the Samguk Yusa, Sima Qian's Shi Ji and the geography section of Hanshu.

The Bronze Age is often held to have begun around 1500 – 1000 BC in Korea, though recent archaeological evidence suggests it might have started as far back as 2500 BC. Bronze daggers, mirrors, and weaponry have been found, as well as evidence of walled-town polities. Rice, red beans, soybeans and millet were cultivated, and rectangular pit-houses and increasingly larger dolmen burial sites are found throughout the peninsula. Contemporaneous records suggest that Gojoseon transitioned from a feudal federation of walled cities into a centralised kingdom at least before the 4th centuries BC.

By the third century BC, iron culture was developing and the warring states of China pushed refugees eastward and south. Around this time, a state called Jin arose in the southern part of the Korean peninsula. Very little is known about Jin, but it established relations with Han China and exported artifacts to the Yayoi of Japan. A Gojoseon king is said to have fled there after a power struggle, and that it later evolved into the Samhan confederacies.

Decline and fall of Gojoseon

Gojoseon's King Jun appointed Wiman, a refugee from Yan, as commander of western territories in around 200 BC. Wiman later rebelled and usurped the throne in 194 BC, and Jun fled south to Jin. Gojoseon under Wiman was sinicized, but not a Chinese colony. In 109 BC, Wudi of Han China began a massive invasion against Gojoseon near the Liao River. Gojoseon fell after over a year of war, in 108 BC. China then established four commanderies, although three fell to Korean resistance by 75 BC.

Scholars who believe that Gija Joseon coexisted with Gojoseon suggest that Gija Joseon was overthrown by Wiman, who was in turn defeated by Wudi; Gojoseon itself disintegrated by 1st century BC as it gradually lost the control of its former fiefs.

Many smaller states sprang from the former territory of Gojoseon, but were later largely reunited by Goguryeo.

Proto-Three Kingdoms of Korea

The early part of the Three Kingdoms Period, before the states grew into dominant centralized kingdoms, is sometimes called the Proto-Three Kingdoms Period (2nd Century BCE - 3rd century).

After the end of Gojoseon, Jin in the southern part of the peninsula developed into three loose confederacies: Mahan, Jinhan, and Byeonhan (collectively, the Samhan).

In the north, Goguryeo was founded around the modern border between China and Korea in the 2nd century BC, claiming to be the successor to a branch of Buyeo. Among the other various small states in former Gojoseon territory were Okjeo, Dongye, and the remnants of Buyeo, all of which were later conquered by Goguryeo. The last Chinese commandery, at Lelang, was destroyed by Goguryeo in 313.

Mahan was later absorbed into Baekje, Jinhan was absorbed into Silla, and Byeonhan was succeeded by Gaya, which was in turn fully annexed by Silla by 562.

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms (108 BC - 668) refer to Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, although Buyeo and Gaya existed well into 5th and 6th century respectively.

Baekje is said to have been founded in 18 BC around today's Seoul by the sons of Goguryeo's founder. It began as a member of the Mahan confederacy, but expanded into the southwest of the peninsula. At its peak in the 4th century, it had absorbed all of Mahan and centrally controlled most of the western Korean peninsula. Baekje acquired Chinese culture through contacts with the Southern Dynasties. It played a fundamental role in transmitting cultural developments, including Chinese characters, Buddhism, and iron-making, into ancient Japan. Baekje was conquered by the Silla-Tang forces in 660.

The earliest founded and largest of the three, Goguryeo, reached its zenith in the fifth century, when Emperor Gwanggaeto the Great and his son, Jangsu expanded into almost all of Manchuria and part of inner Mongolia, and took the Seoul region from Baekje, making Goguryeo one of the great powers in East Asia. Gwanggaeto and Jangsu subdued Baekje and Silla during their times, bringing about a loose unification of Korea. Jangsu's grandson, Munjamyeong absorbed Buyeo by 494. The Goguryeo emperors ruled not only Koreans but also Chinese and other Tungusic tribes in Manchuria and North Korea. Goguryeo defeated a massive Chinese invasion in the Goguryeo-Sui War, contributing to Sui's fall, and continued to repel the Tang dynasty. After internal power struggles, however, it was conquered by the allied Silla-Tang forces in 668.

The kingdom Silla began with the unification of six of the chiefdoms of the Jinhan confederacy. It annexed the Gaya confederacy by 562 and at various times allied and warred with Baekje and Goguryeo. It became the first kingdom with a queen who ruled on her own right.

Silla artifacts, including unique gold metalwork, shows influence from the northern nomadic steppes, with less Chinese influence than Goguryeo and Baekje. Silla expanded rapidly by occupying the Han River basin. Silla deepened its relations with the Tang Dynasty, with her newly-gained access to the Yellow Sea.

In 660, King Muyeol of Silla ordered his armies to attack Baekje. General Kim Yu-shin, aided by Tang forces, defeated General Ge-Baek of Baekje and conquered Baekje. In 661, he moved on Goguryeo but was repelled. King Munmu, son of Muyeol and nephew of General Kim, ordered his uncle to launch another campaign in 667 and, in 668, Goguryeo fell.

Balhae and Unified Silla

Main articles: Balhae, Unified Silla

After conquering Goguryeo and Baekje with her Tang allies, Silla drove the Tang forces out of the peninsula by 676 to achieve unification of most of the Three Kingdoms. Thus post-668 Silla kingdom is often referred to as Unified Silla.

Unified Silla lasted for 267 years until, under King Gyeongsun, it was replaced by Goryeo in 935. Architectures of Bulguksa and Seokguram, jewelry discovered from royal tombs, and countless other artifacts remain from Silla's cultural peak.

Balhae (Bohai in Chinese) was founded in the northern part of former lands of Goguryeo by Dae Joyeong, a former Goguryeo general. Balhae controlled the northernmost areas of the Korean Peninsula, much of Manchuria (though it didn't occupy Liaodong peninsula for much of history), and expanded into present-day Russian Maritime Province. Balhae styled itself as Goguryeo's successor state. It also adapted from the Tang Empire, for example in the layout of its capitals.

In a time of relative peace and stability in the region, Balhae culture flourished, especially during the long reign of the third Emperor, Dae Heummu (r. 737-793). Like Silla culture, the culture of Balhae was strongly influenced by Buddhism. However, Balhae was conquered by the Khitan Liao Dynasty in 926.

No historical records from Balhae have survived, and the Liao left no histories of Balhae. Goryeo (see below) absorbed some Balhae territory and received Balhae refugees, including the crown prince and the royal family, but compiled no known histories of Balhae either. The Samguk Sagi ("History of the Three Kingdoms"), for instance, includes passages on Balhae, but does not include a dynastic history of Balhae. The eighteenth century Joseon dynasty historian Yu Deukgong advocated the proper study of Balhae as part of Korean history, and coined the term "South-North Nations Period" to refer to this era.

Later Three Kingdoms Era

The Later Three Kingdoms of Korea (892 - 936) consisted of Silla, Hubaekje ("Later Baekje"), and Taebong (also known as Hugoguryeo, "Later Goguryeo"). The latter two were viewed as heirs to the earlier Three Kingdoms of Korea, which had been united by Silla. This period arose out of national unrest during the reign of Queen Jinseong of Silla.

Taebong, originally led by Gung Ye, was taken over by Wang Geon in 918, who changed the name of dynasty to Goryeo. He defeated Hubaekje in 935 and received the surrender of Silla in the following year, bringing about the first full union of Korean people in a millennium.

Goryeo

Goryeo was founded in 918 and by 936, replaced Silla as the ruling dynasty of Korea. ("Goryeo" is a short form of "Goguryeo" and the source of the English name "Korea.") The dynasty lasted until 1392. During this period laws were codified, and a civil service system was introduced. Buddhism flourished, and spread throughout the peninsula. The development of celadon industry flourished in 12th and 13th century. The publication of Tripitaka Koreana, and world's first metal printing technology in 13th century, attests to Goryeo's cultural achievements.

In 1231 the Mongols began its campaigns against Korea and after 25 years of struggle, the royal family relented by signing a treaty with the Mongols. For the following 80 years Goryeo survived, but under the interference of the Mongols.

In the 1340s, the Mongol Empire declined rapidly due to internal struggles. King Gongmin was free at last to reform a Goryeo government. Gongmin had various problems that needed to be dealt with, which included the removal of pro-Mongol aristocrats and military officials, the question of land holding, and quelling the growing animosity between the Buddhists and Confucian scholars.

Another problem was that Japanese pirates were no longer hit-and-run bandits, but organized military marauders raiding deep into the country. It was at that time that General Yi Seonggye distinguished himself by repelling the pirates in a series of successful engagements. The Goryeo dynasty would last until 1392, when Yi Seonggye, who had heavy support among aristocracy, would easily take power in a coup.

Joseon

In 1392 a Korean general, Yi Seonggye, was sent to China to campaign against the Ming Dynasty, but instead he returned to overthrow the Goryeo king and establish a new dynasty. The Joseon Dynasty moved the capital to Hanseong (formerly Hanyang; modern-day Seoul) in 1394 and adopted Confucianism as the country's official religion, resulting in much loss of power and wealth by the Buddhists. During this period, the Hangul alphabet was invented by King Sejong in 1443.

Joseon (as Korea was called during the Joseon Dynasty) dealt with invasions by Japan from 1592 to 1598 (see Seven-Year War). Korea's most famous military figure, Admiral Yi Sun-sin was instrumental in defeating the Japanese. After the invasions from Manchuria in 1627 and 1636, the dynasty paid tribute to the Qing Empire. On the other hand, Korea permitted the Japanese to trade at Busan and sent missions to the capital of Edo in Japan from time to time. Europeans were never permitted to trade at Korean ports until the 1880s.

Domestic politics was plagued by internal power struggles among Confucian bureaucrats. In spite of some efforts to introduce Western technology through the Jesuit missions at Beijing, the Korean free market economy remained insignificant due to weak currency circulation and more so societal discouragement. Peasants, suffering from famine and exploitation, often fled the country into Manchuria.

19th century

During the 19th century, Korea tried to control the opening of the country to unlimited foreign trade and influence by closing the borders to all nations but China. In 1853 the USS South America, an American gunboat, visited Busan for 10 days and had amiable contact with local Korean officials there. Several Americans who were shipwrecked on Korea in 1855 and 1865 were also treated well and sent to China for repatriation. The Joseon court which ruled Korea, was well aware of the foreign invasions and treaties thereby within Qing China as well as the Opium Wars there, and reasonably followed a cautious policy of slow exchange with the west. In 1866 the General Sherman Incident put Korea and the United States on a collision course.

In 1871, the United States met Korea militarily, and retreated, in what the Koreans call the Sinmiyangyo and in America is called the 1871 US Korea Campaign. A rapidly modernizing Japan forced Korea to open its ports and successfully challenged the Qing Empire, which claimed external dominance over Korea, in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The Japanese murdered Empress Myeongseong, who resisted their exploitation by seeking Russian help, but they were forced to retreat from Korea for a while. In 1897, Joseon was renamed Daehan Jeguk (Korean Empire), and King Gojong became Emperor Gojong. A period of Russian influence followed, until Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905).

Korea could not effectively resist Japanese aggression except limited guerrilla attacks in the mountains. It effectively became a protectorate of Japan on 25 July 1907, the 1905 Protectorate Treaty having been promulgated without Emperor Gojong's required seal.

Japanese Occupation

In 1910 Japan effectively annexed Korea by the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, though the legality of the treaty is disputed and generally not accepted in Korea because it was not signed by the Emperor of Korea as required. Korea continued to be controlled by Japan under a Governor-General of Korea until Japan's unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces, on 15 August 1945, with de jure sovereignty deemed to have passed from Joseon Dynasty to the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea.

European based transport and communication networks were established across the nation. This facilitated Japanese commerce, but modernization had little if any effect on the Korean people, it being used to serve Japanese trade needs, and their tight centralized controls. The Japanese removed the Joseon hierarchy and revamped Korea's taxation system to evict tenant farmers, export Korean rice crops to Japan which provoked Korean famines; and brought in a punitive series of measures which included murdering those who refused to pay taxes in the provinces; forced slavery in roadworks, mines, and factories first in Korea, then enforced working slavery of Koreans in Japan and its occupied territories.

After the Korean Emperor Gojong had died, with a rumor of poisoning, nationalist rallies against Japanese invaders took place nationwide on 1 March 1919 (the March 1st (Samil) Movement). This was also inspired by United States president Woodrow Wilson's speech of 1919, declaring support for right of self determination and an end to colonial rule for Europeans. No comment was made by Wilson on Korean independence as a pro-Japan faction in the USA sought trade inroads into China through the Korean peninsula.

A declaration of independence was read in Seoul and, according to Korean record, an estimated 2 million people took part in peaceful, pro-liberation rallies. (The Japanese record claims less than half million.) This protest in the countryside was suppressed by Japanese government. An estimated 7,000 were arrested, 553 killed and 1409 wounded. Many Korean Christians were crucified or burnt alive in churches as they fought for Korean independence within the Korean independence movements.

The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established in Shanghai, China, in an aftermath of March 1st Movement, which coordinated the Liberation effort and resistance against Japanese control. Some of the achievements include the Battle of Chungsanri of 1920 and the ambush of Japanese Military Leadership in China in 1932. The Provisional Government is considered to be the de jure government of the Korean people between the period 1919 to 1948, and its legitimacy is enshrined in the preamble to the constitution of the South Korea.

Continued anti-Japanese rallies, such as the nationwide uprising of students in November 1929, led to the strengthening of military rule in 1931. After the outbreaks of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and World War II Japan attempted to wipe out Korea as a nation. Worship at Japanese Shinto shrines was made compulsory. The school curriculum was radically modified to eliminate teaching in the Korean language within Korea. The continuance of Korean culture itself began to be illegal. Newspapers were prohibited from publishing in Korean and the study of Korean history was banned at university with Korean textbooks burnt, destroyed, or made illegal.

Some Koreans left the Korean peninsula to Manchuria and Primorsky Krai. Koreans in Manchuria formed resistance groups known as Dongnipgun (Independence Army) which would travel in and out of the Korean-Chinese boundary, fighting guerrilla warfare with the Japanese forces.

On December 9, 1941 the provisional government declared war against Japan and Germany, and its Korean Liberation Army fought alongside the Allied Forces in China and South Asia. The Liberation Army planned to enter Korea and play a part in the defeat of Japanese in Korea, along American Office of Strategic Services, though the Japanese surrender terminated the departure of the leading units due only days away. Seven days after the sundering of the friendship Pact, Soviet tanks invaded Korea from Siberia, meeting little to no resistance. Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces on 15 August 1945, ending 35 years of effective Japanese rule. US forces under General Hodge would not arrive to southern part of Korea until September 8th. Colonel Dean Rusk proposed splitting Korea at the 38th parallel at an emergency US meeting to determine spheres of influence during this time, ignoring the provisional government.

Assessment of Japan's role in the Modernization of Korea

The Modernization in Korea (e.g. western style educational system, transportation networks etc.), which had been launched since the beginning of the 20th century, continued during the Period of Japanese Rule (1910-1945). The further development of Korea by Japanese served their needs, and were denied to Koreans other than participating in forced slave labour to build roads, and buildings for Japanese needs. This is often used as a criticism of Japanese policies, as their opponents point out that Japanese commercial interests were always put first and that Korean economic development was prevented, or if made, often exploited. Modernization in Korea can be said definitely to have begun in the post-1945 period under the stewardship of America and its allies in a way that benefited Korea itself.

The division of Korea

The unconditional surrender of Japan, the earlier collapse of Nazi Germany, combined with fundamental shifts in global politics and ideology, led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones effectively starting on September 8, 1945, with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet Union taking over the area north of the 38th parallel. The Provisional Government was ignored, mainly due to American misconception that it was too communist-aligned. This division was meant to be temporary and was first intended to return a unified Korea back to its people until the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China could arrange a trusteeship administration.

At the Cairo Conference on 22 November 1943, it was agreed that Korea would be free "in due course as one unified country”; at a later meeting in Yalta in February 1945, it was agreed to establish a four-power trusteeship over Korea. In December 1945, a conference convened in Moscow to discuss the future of Korea. A 5-year trusteeship was discussed, and a joint Soviet-American commission was established. The commission met intermittently in Seoul but deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government. In September 1947, with no solution in sight, the United States submitted the Korean question to the UN General Assembly.

Initial hopes for a unified, independent Korea quickly evaporated as the politics of the Cold War and opposition to the trusteeship plan from Korean anti-communists resulted in the 1948 establishment of two separate nations with diametrically opposed political, economic, and social systems. In June 1950 the Korean War broke out, ending any hope of a peaceful reunification for the time being.

See History of North Korea and History of South Korea for the post-war period.

Notes

1. Byeon (1999), p. 27. Byeon explains that the lower layers of Seokjangni and other sites have been dated to 600,000-500,000 BCE, and that the discovery of yet older layers at a site in Damyang County have led to the hypothesis that human habitation of Korea began around 700,000 BCE.
2. Some North Koreans claim it may have been inhabited for 1,000,000 years. North Korean Central News Agency, the official News Agency of North Korea claims that Korea is one of the several cradles of humankind in the world (13/04/2004). Typical of relics that allegedly dates from the beginning period of humankind was discovered in a grotto in Huku-ri of Sangwon County, Pyongyang.

References

• Byeon Tae-seop (변태섭) (1999). 韓國史通論 (Hanguksa tongnon) (Outline of Korean history), 4th ed. ISBN 89-445-9101-6.
• Yang, S.C. (1999). The North and South Korean political systems: A comparative analysis. (Rev. Ed.). Seoul: Hollym. ISBN 1-56591-105-9

See also

• List of Korea-related topics
• List of Korean Kings

External links

• The History of the Korean Martial Arts

• History of Korea