A Long History of Conflict
North Korea and South Korea share a history, a language and a peninsula. But for more than 60 years, conflict and distrust have separated the nations. Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, Korea was divided into two countries. The split became permanent in 1948. North Korea established a communist government. South Korea became a republic. Each wanted to reunify Korea under its own government.