Korea's tragic history
Today’s struggles for power in international relations make me very often rethink past tragic events. The destiny of the Korean Peninsula has been long-trapped into facing tragedies. The long-dragging tragedies have been swayed by neighboring big powers such as China, Japan and Russia. The peninsula was once even a colony of Imperial Japan.
Historically, the peninsula has been the focus of division by major powers surrounding it on several occasions.
The first instance of division occurred in the 16th century, when Japan and the Qing Dynasty conspired in secret discussions to divide the peninsula along the Han River. That century was a period of Japanese invasion — from 1592 to 1598 — commonly known as the Imjin War.
The second instance involved a plan to divide the northern part of the country under Qing Dynasty influence........
© The Korea Times
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