A Brief History of Korean Relations in the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries: Background information when reading The Liberators

In EJ Koh's The Liberators, Insuk's friend Robert is an activist passionately in favor of the reunification of North and South Korea. Korea was occupied by Japan from the early 20th century through 1948; when the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, Korea was split along the 38th parallel by the United States. The northern region was occupied by the Soviet Union, and the southern by the US. This was meant to be a temporary solution to instability but the split has continued through the present day, cemented in part by the Korean War. Efforts toward and talk of reunification have been a regular part of Korean diplomacy ever since.

In 1972, North and South Korea issued the July 4 South-North Communiqué, which presented three ideals intended to pave the way to reunification — independence, peaceful unification, and national unity. However, no tangible progress was made by this declaration due in part to conflict between President Park Chung-hee (of South ...