Understanding of North-South Relations(3)

Political leaders who carried on the independence movement during Japan`s colonial rule formed a number of political parties and organizations after liberation, calling for establishing a unified independent government on the Korean peninsula. In 1947, the US submitted the issue of Korean independence to the United Nations General Assembly. The UN adopted the American resolution and decided to establish an independent government in Korea through a temporary committee consisting of UN members and Koreans, with a general election set in the near future. During this procedure, hoeever, a conflict between supporting and opposing forces about the trusteeship of North and South Korea arose, and chasm between the two sides widened. Ultimately, the Soviet Union banned the UN committee from entering North Korea, and on August 15, 1948, South Korea alone conducted a general election and established the government of Republic of Korea. That same year on September 9, North Korea officially established the Democratic People`s Republic of Korea. From that day forward, the nation was divided into two countries, and the history of Korea`s national division had begun.