The History of South Korea

The history of South Korea formally begins
with its establishment on 15 August 1948,
although Syngman Rhee had officially declared
independence two days prior.

In the aftermath of the Japanese occupation
of Korea which ended with Japan 's defeat in
World War II in 1945, Korea was divided at the
38th parallel north in accordance with a United
Nations arrangement, to be administered by
the Soviet Union in the north and the United
States in the south. The Soviets and
Americans were unable to agree on the
implementation of Joint Trusteeship over
Korea. This led in 1948 to the establishment
of two separate governments, each claiming to
be the legitimate government of all of Korea.
Eventually, following the Korean War, the two
separate governments stabilized into the
existing political entities of North and South
Korea .
South Korea's subsequent history is marked
by alternating periods of democratic and
autocratic rule. Civilian governments are
conventionally numbered from the First
Republic of Syngman Rhee to the
contemporary Sixth Republic. The First
Republic, arguably democratic at its inception,
became increasingly autocratic until its
collapse in 1960. The Second Republic was
strongly democratic, but was overthrown in
less than a year and replaced by an autocratic
military regime . The Third, Fourth, and Fifth
Republics were nominally democratic, but are
widely regarded[ by whom? ] as the continuation
of military rule [ not verified in body ] . With the
Sixth Republic, the country has gradually
stabilized into a liberal democracy .
Since its inception, South Korea has seen
substantial development in education ,
economy, and culture . Since the 1960s, the
country has developed from one of Asia's
poorest to one of the world's wealthiest
nations. Education, particularly at the tertiary
level, has expanded dramatically. It is said to
be one of the " Four Tigers " of rising Asian
states along with Singapore , Taiwan and Hong
Kong .