History of Korea
The Lower Paleolithic era on the Korean Peninsula and in Manchuria began roughly half a million years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC and the Neolithic period began thereafter, followed by the Bronze Age by 2000 BC, and the Iron Age around 700 BC. The Paleolithic people are likely not the direct ancestors of the present Korean people, but their direct ancestors are thought to be the Neolithic People of about 2000 BC.
According to the mythic account recounted in the Samguk yusa, the Gojoseon kingdom was founded in northern Korea and southern Manchuria in 2333 BC. The first written historical record on Gojoseon can be found from the text Guanzi. The Jin state was formed in southern Korea by the 3rd century BC. In the late 2nd century BC, Gojoseon eventually fell to the Han dynasty of China, which led to succeeding warring states, the Proto–Three Kingdoms period.
From the 1st century BC, Goguryeo, Baekje, and Silla grew to control the peninsula and Manchuria as the Three Kingdoms of Korea, until unification by Silla in 676. In 698, Dae Jo-young established Balhae in the old territories of Goguryeo, which led to the Northern and Southern States period with Balhae and Silla coexisting.
In the late 9th century, Silla was divided into the Later Three Kingdoms, which ended with the unification by Wang Kŏn's Goryeo dynasty. Meanwhile, Balhae fell after invasions by the Khitan-led Liao dynasty; fleeing refugees including the last crown prince emigrated to Goryeo, where he was absorbed into the ruling family, thus unifying the two successor states of Goguryeo. During the Goryeo period, laws were codified, a civil service system was introduced, and culture influenced by Buddhism flourished. However, Mongol invasions in the 13th century brought Goryeo under the influence of the Mongol Empire and the Yuan dynasty of China until the mid-14th century.
In 1392, General Yi Seong-gye established the Joseon dynasty after a coup d'état in 1388 that overthrew the Goryeo dynasty. King Sejong the Great implemented numerous administrative, social, scientific, and economic reforms, established royal authority in the early years of the dynasty, and personally created Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
After enjoying a period of peace for nearly two centuries, the Joseon dynasty faced foreign invasions from 1592 to 1637. Most notable of these were the Japanese invasions of Korea. The combined force of the Ming dynasty of China and the Joseon dynasty repelled these Japanese invasions, but at a cost to both countries. Henceforth, Joseon gradually became more and more isolationist and stagnant with frequent internal strifes.
By the mid 19th century, with the country unwilling to modernize, and under encroachment by European powers, Joseon Korea was forced to sign unequal treaties with foreign powers. After the assassination of Empress Myeongseong by Japanese mercenaries in 1895, the Donghak Peasant Revolution, and the Gabo Reforms of 1894 to 1896, the Korean Empire came into existence, heralding a brief but rapid period of social reform and modernization. However, in 1905, the Korean Empire was forced to sign a protectorate treaty and in 1910, Japan effectively annexed the Korean Empire; the treaties involved were later confirmed to be null and void. Korea then became a de facto Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945. Korean resistance manifested in the widespread March First Movement of 1919. Thereafter the resistance movements, coordinated by the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in exile, became largely active in neighboring Manchuria, China proper, and Siberia.
After the end of World War II in 1945, the Allies divided the country into a northern area and a southern area. In 1948, when the great powers failed to agree on the formation of a single government, this partition became the modern states of North and South Korea. The peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel: the "Republic of Korea" was created in the south, with the backing of the US and Western Europe, and the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in the north, with the backing of the Soviets and the communist People's Republic of China. The new premier of North Korea, Kim Il Sung, launched the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the country under Communist rule. After immense material and human destruction, the conflict ended with a ceasefire in 1953. In 1991, both states were accepted into the United Nations. In 2018, the two nations agreed to work toward a final settlement to formally end the Korean conflict and promote the common prosperity and reunification of Korea.
While both countries were essentially under authoritarian rule after the war, South Korea eventually liberalized. Since 1987 it has had a competitive electoral system. The South Korean economy has prospered, and the country is now considered to be fully developed. North Korea has maintained a totalitarian militarized rule, with a personality cult constructed around the Kim family. Economically, North Korea has remained heavily dependent on foreign aid.
Prehistory
Paleolithic
No fossil proven to be Homo erectus has been found in the Korean Peninsula, though a candidate has been reported. Tool-making artifacts from the Paleolithic period have been found in present-day North Hamgyong, South Pyongan, Gyeonggi, and north and south Chungcheong provinces, which dates the Paleolithic Age to half a million years ago, though it may have begun as late as 400,000 years ago or as early as 600,000–700,000 years ago.Neolithic
The earliest known Korean pottery dates back to around 8000 BC, and evidence of Mesolithic Pit–Comb Ware culture is found throughout the peninsula, such as in Jeju Island. Jeulmun pottery, or "comb-pattern pottery", is found after 7000 BC, and is concentrated at sites in west-central regions of the Korean Peninsula, where a number of prehistoric settlements, such as Amsa-dong, existed. Jeulmun pottery bears basic design and form similarities to that of Mongolia, the Amur and Songhua river basins of Manchuria, the Jōmon culture in Japan, and the Baiyue in Southern China and Southeast Asia.Archaeological evidence demonstrates that agricultural societies and the earliest forms of social-political complexity emerged in the Mumun pottery period.
People in southern Korea adopted intensive dry-field and paddy-field agriculture with a multitude of crops in the Early Mumun Period. The first societies led by big-men or chiefs emerged in the Middle Mumun, and the first ostentatious elite burials can be traced to the Late Mumun. Bronze production began in the Middle Mumun and became increasingly important in ceremonial and political society after 700 BC. Archeological evidence from Songguk-ri, Daepyeong, Igeum-dong, and elsewhere indicate that the Mumun era was the first in which chiefdoms rose, expanded, and collapsed. The increasing presence of long-distance trade, an increase in local conflicts, and the introduction of bronze and iron metallurgy are trends denoting the end of the Mumun around 300 BC.
In addition, 73 tombs similar to the ones found in Japan, estimated to date back to Gojoseon, have been found in the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, and the discovery of jar burials, suggest a close relationship with Japan and Gojoseon, proving that Gojoseon and Yayoi period Japan maintained close relations with one another even during the ancient times.
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age in Korea is often held to have begun around 900–800 BC, though the transition to the Bronze Age may have begun as far back as 2300 BC. Bronze daggers, mirrors, jewelry, and weaponry have been found, as well as evidence of walled-town polities. Rice, red beans, soybeans and millet were cultivated, and rectangular pit-houses and increasingly larger dolmen burial sites are found throughout the peninsula. Contemporaneous records suggest that Gojoseon transitioned from a feudal federation of walled cities into a centralised kingdom at least before the 4th century BC. It is believed that by the 4th century BC, iron culture was developing in Korea by northern influence via today's Russia's Maritime Province.Ancient Korea
Gojoseon
was the first Korean kingdom, located in the north of the peninsula and Manchuria, later alongside the state of Jin in the south of the peninsula.The founding legend of Gojoseon, which is recorded in the Samguk yusa and other medieval Korean books, states that the country was established in 2333 BC by Dangun, said to be descended from heaven. While no evidence has been found that supports whatever facts may lie beneath this, the account has played an important role in developing Korean national identity.
In the 12th century BC, Gija, a prince from the Shang dynasty of China, purportedly founded Gija Joseon. In pre-modern Korea, Gija represented the authenticating presence of Chinese civilization, and until the 20th century, Koreans commonly believed that Dangun bestowed upon Korea its people and basic culture, while Gija gave Korea its high culture—and presumably, standing as a legitimate civilization. However, due to contradicting historical and archaeological evidence, its existence was challenged in the 20th century, and today no longer forms the mainstream understanding of this period.
The historical Gojoseon kingdom was first mentioned in the Chinese record in a text called Guanzi. By about the 4th century BC, Gojoseon had developed to the point where its existence was well known in China, and around this time, its capital moved to Pyongyang.
In 194 BC, the King of Gojoseon was overthrown by Wi Man, a Korean-Chinese refugee from the Han vassal state of Yan. Wi Man then established Wiman Joseon.
In 128 BC, Nan Lü, a leader of Ye who was receiving pressure from Wiman Joseon, surrendered to the Han dynasty and became the Canghai Commandery.