Time to join the hype? Well, although everything Korean has become so incredibly popular, a first trip to Korea can be a challenge, especially for individual solo travellers who are not basically carried from place to place on a pre-organized tour. Time to scratch your travel plan? No way! All this will make your trip to Korea easy and smooth and so much fun! In ye olden days, the three so-called empires of Korea ruled large parts of the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria until the 7th century, namely the Kingdoms of Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla.
In , Korea first became a protectorate of the Japanese Empire and eventually a colony in The Japanese oppressors banned the Korean language from schools and public offices in Also, in the course of their policy of cultural extermination, they excluded Korean courses from elementary education in Particularly the crimes against humanity that the Japanese troops committed against the Koreans during WWII left deep scars, especially since Japan never acknowledged them to their full extent.
The two victorious powers divided the country along the 38th parallel. In , the occupying powers established independent Korean states on their territory and installed governments. The Soviet troops withdrew the same year and the US troops followed one year later. Both Korean states proclaimed sovereignty over the entire peninsula from the very beginning of their existence. In June , North Korea attempted unification by a military attack on the South.
This resulted in a war in which a number of Western states took part. After the armistice in July , the division of the peninsula remained along the formerly defined demarcation line. A demilitarized zone was established around the demarcation line in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire.
Despite the heavily patrolled border between North Korea and South Korea, the people of both countries share a joint history, a mutual language, as well as cultural traditions. Only in , a constitutional amendment defined Pyongyang as the capital of North Korea. Note: If you are a history teacher, you might find this outline somewhat simplified. It is. Since this is mainly a travel post, the historical and political info is very basic and in places not complete.
