Introduction

Abstract

At the end of the Second World War in 1945, Korea was liberated from Japanese colonial rule. The joy of Liberation, however, soon disappeared as a result of the division of the country. Since the establishment of two separate polities on the Korean peninsula in 1948 – i.e. the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the South, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the North, the unification of the divided country has been the overriding goal of the Koreans. Before the Korean War, both Premier Kim Il Sung in the North, and President Syngman Rhee in the South, argued that unification had to be achieved by whatever means necessary including military force. On 25 June 1950, North Korea attempted to reach this objective by military means. After realizing the impossibility of unification by this method over the course of the Korean conflict, Kim Il Sung, in 1953, accepted the armistice and switched his policy to one that emphasized unification by peaceful means, at least publicly. Syngman Rhee, on the other hand, vigorously opposed the armistice itself, and even after its signature, reiterated his intention to resume hostilities in order to unify Korea. The United States, on which South Korea was heavily dependent militarily and economically, strongly opposed this proposed course of action. Although Rhee was well aware of the impossibility of unifying Korea by force without the support of the US, he nevertheless maintained the slogan of ‘March north and unify Korea!’ until his regime collapsed in April 1960.