Korea was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period[9][10] and its civilization began with the founding of Gojoseon. After the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea in 668, Korea enjoyed over a millennium of relative tranquility under dynasties lasting for centuries in which its trade, culture, literature, science and technology flourished.[11] In 1910 it was annexed by the Japanese Empire, after whose surrender in 1945, Korea was divided into Soviet and U.S. zones of occupation, with the latter becoming the Republic of Korea in August 1948. Although the United Nations passed a resolution declaring the Republic to be the only lawful government of Korea,[12] a communist regime was soon set up in the North that invaded the South in 1950, leading to the Korean War that ended in 1953 with an armistice, with peace and prosperity settling-in thereafter.