North Korea: From Cousins' War to Lunch in Singapore

The meeting between Donald Trump and the leader of North Korea is considered a historic event, even without considering its outcome; it is the first time since the Korean War and the formation of the bipolarity of 'North' and 'South' and their allies in East Asia that a sitting U.S. president has met and talked with the leader of North Korea. However, since 1953, from the end of the 'cousins' war' between North and South Korea to the meeting between Trump and Kim in Singapore, the Korean Peninsula has been the scene of some of the most significant and impactful events in the global arena. The following linear narrative reviews some of these events. The 1950-1953 War broke out five years after the Korean Peninsula regained its independence and ended Japanese rule. The war erupted while the peninsula was under the influence of two ideological blocs, 'East' and 'West,' supported by the Soviet Union and the United States. Twenty-one countries, led by the U.S., entered the battles to prevent what was termed the North Korean invasion. Countries such as Turkey, Colombia, Luxembourg, and Ethiopia participated in this coalition alongside the U.S., Britain, and Canada. The leadership of South Korea was held by 'Syngman Rhee,' an anti-communist autocrat who oversaw 'tens of thousands of illegal executions' during his tenure. China and the Soviet Union supported Kim Il-sung, a communist autocrat, whose legacy today is known as North Korea. Over three years, the war left two and a half million civilian casualties. The two Koreas were officially separated and have still not succeeded in signing a peace treaty. In 1953, with the armistice between the two Koreas in the summer of 1953, the border known as the 'Korean Demilitarized Zone' was established. Although the term 'demilitarized' is in the name of this area, it is one of the most militarized zones in the world. Soldiers from both sides are positioned two kilometers from a line known as the 'Military Demarcation Line,' creating a total distance of four kilometers between them. The 'Military Demarcation Line' runs through the middle of the 'Korean Demilitarized Zone' and is where the two fronts of North and South faced each other at the time of the armistice signing. People in both North and South Korea, unlike other countries in the world, refer to each other not as separate countries but as parts of a whole, calling North Korea 'Han Buk' in South Korea, derived from the name of South Korea, which is called 'The Great Land of the Han People.' In 1984, North Korea tested its first Scud-B missile. In December 1985, North Korea signed the 'Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons' (NPT) but later conditioned the implementation of the 'International Atomic Energy Agency' safeguards on the removal of U.S. nuclear weapons from South Korea, where the U.S. had stationed nuclear weapons since 1958. In 1992, North and South Korea signed the 'Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.' In 1994, Kim Il-sung passed away, and his son Kim Jong-il took over the leadership of North Korea. Jimmy Carter became the first U.S. president to visit North Korea after his term, during which Washington and Pyongyang signed an agreement known as the 'Agreed Framework,' under which North Korea promised to suspend its nuclear program in exchange for international aid. In 1998, North Korea tested its first ballistic missile, known as Unha-1 or Taepodong-1, launched from the Musudan-ri site in the northeast of the peninsula. The first inter-Korean summit occurred in 2000, 18 years before the Trump-Kim meeting, which was considered 'historic' at the time. Although it is still regarded as a significant historical event, none of these meetings have led to a peace treaty between the two countries. The 2000 meeting between Kim Dae-jung, the South Korean president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader, resulted in a joint statement. In 2002, another historical event occurred when the Japanese Prime Minister visited North Korea, where Pyongyang admitted to abducting several Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s, which continues to overshadow negotiations on the Korean Peninsula as Tokyo seeks to retrieve its citizens. In 2003, North Korea withdrew from the 'Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons' (NPT). In the summer of that year, the first round of 'Six-Party Talks' took place among North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the U.S. to find a peaceful solution to North Korea's nuclear program. In subsequent years, North Korea expanded its nuclear arsenal. In early 2005, North Korea announced it would suspend nuclear negotiations but later returned to talks and agreed with the U.S. on September 19 to suspend all its nuclear activities in exchange for security guarantees and non-aggression pledges, only to retract the agreement the following day and announce plans to build nuclear reactors by the end of the year. In 2006, North Korea conducted its first military nuclear test at the famous Punggye-ri site, the same site Kim Jong-un announced this year would cease operations. In July 2006, North Korea tested the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile. In 2009, North Korea tested the Unha-2 missile in the presence of the then-leader and his son Kim Jong-un. Following a UN resolution, Pyongyang declared it would 'never return to the Six-Party Talks' and conducted its second nuclear test in the spring of that year. In 2011, Kim Jong-il passed away, and Kim Jong-un took over leadership. In April 2012, the Unha-3 missile was tested, which was unsuccessful. In December, a long-range missile was tested. That year, Russian state news agency reported that for the first time, the command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed concern about the 'nuclear threat' posed by North Korea and Iran. In 2013, North Korea conducted its third military nuclear test. In 2014, the Rodong medium-range ballistic missile was tested after several years of hiatus. In 2015, Pyongyang announced that all its nuclear facilities would resume operations, and it was reported that the 'KN-11' ballistic missile was launched from a submarine, marking the first test of its kind. Similar tests were conducted in November, which Seoul described as 'unsuccessful.' North Korea conducted another test in December, which South Korea again labeled 'unsuccessful.' In 2016, North Korea announced it had conducted its first hydrogen bomb test and conducted its fifth military nuclear test in September. In February, it launched a long-range missile, claiming it successfully carried a satellite. In March, the Rodong was tested, and in June, after several unsuccessful tests, an 'IRBM' missile of the Musudan type was tested, which falls between medium-range and intercontinental missiles. Submarine-launched missile tests continued, with one successfully traveling 500 kilometers. In the summer, Rodong tests continued, and in August, one of the Rodongs landed in an area known as Japan's exclusive economic zone after traveling a thousand kilometers over the sea. Missile tests continued into late 2017. In September 2016, North Korea conducted its fifth military nuclear test. In 2017, new ballistic missile tests began, including a new IRBM test. In February 2017, Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader, was assassinated with a chemical agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, leading to a new international crisis for Pyongyang. In March, North Korea launched several ballistic missiles. In July, it claimed to have successfully tested its first intercontinental missile. Soon after, there were severe verbal threats exchanged between the North Korean leader and the U.S. president, including warnings and threats of 'nuclear attack' and 'destruction' of the other country. In September, North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful military nuclear test. In November, Donald Trump designated North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. North Korea claimed to have tested an intercontinental missile capable of reaching anywhere in the U.S. and carrying a nuclear warhead, asserting that its nuclear arsenal had reached full capacity. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula reached an unprecedented level. In 2017, tensions escalated on the Korean Peninsula. In early January 2018, with a 'reconciliation message' from Kim Jong-un to South Korea, the North Korean leader announced he was willing to send a team of athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, which ultimately occurred. Four days after this message, South Korea and the U.S. agreed to postpone their joint military exercises. On January 9, for the first time in two years, officials from the North and South officially met. On February 10, the sister of the North Korean leader met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul and invited him to visit Pyongyang. In March, Trump announced he accepted the North Korean leader's invitation for a meeting. In the same month, Kim Jong-un made his first foreign trip, an unexpected journey to China by train. Then Mike Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang, where North Korea announced it would end operations at the Punggye-ri nuclear site. On April 27, Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un, the leaders of the two Koreas, met. In May, Beijing announced a second meeting between the leaders of China and North Korea. On May 10, Trump announced he would meet with Kim on June 12. Six days later, several senior North Korean officials threatened to cancel the meeting. On May 24, Trump canceled the meeting with the North Korean leader. Two days later, the South Korean president met with the North Korean leader at the border between the two Koreas. Seoul stated that Pyongyang was committed to negotiating with the U.S. president. Shortly after, Kim Yong-chol, a senior advisor to the North Korean leader, made a rare visit to the U.S. On June 1, Trump met with Kim Yong-chol and stated that the meeting would take place on the original date in Singapore. On June 12, 2018, the leaders of the two countries met for the first time, talked, had lunch, walked, and signed an agreement.