Second Korean War (Global Instability)

The Second Korean War, also known as the North Korean War, was a war that took place on the Korean Peninsula from 2018 to 2020. It involved two sides: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly referred to as North Korea, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly referred to as South Korea, which was backed by several nations, mainly being the United States and Japan.

The Korean War had never officially ended, and their had been border skirmishes between the North and the South ever since an armistice brought an end to the fighting in 1953, but the war is generally said to have begun on 12 March 2018, when North Korean forces stormed the DMZ and launched a surprise attack on South Korean forces. From 2018 to 2019, North Korea conquered or controlled much of North Korea, with the southeastern most areas of the nation being the only locations under control of the ROK by early 2019.

The North Korean advance halted in mid-2019 when the Korean People's Army (KPA), exhausted after pushing their way through much of South Korea, began to lose many crucial battles, and Coalition forces began to push north. In a desperate attempt to stop the advance of Coalition forces, a nuclear bomb was detonated over them on 14 October 2019, initially killing over 20,000 troops and resulting in the deaths of thousands more from radiation sickness. This was the third use of nuclear weapons in warfare, and the first time that they had been used by a nation other than the United States. Following this attack, Coalition forces began a massive bombing campaign of targets across North Korea, crippling the nation's military capabilities. Many soldiers, who had become disillusioned with the North Korean regime, defected. Coalition forces continued to advance, crossing the DMZ and proceeding to sweep across North Korea. On 20 January 2020, Kim Jong-un was captured by Coalition forces at the Presidential Palace, destroying any remaining morale that the North Korean forces had. On 24 January 2020, North Korean forces surrendered unconditionally to Coalition forces, ending the war. Following the end of the war, North Korea was annexed by South Korea, creating a united Korea.

Imperial Japanese Rule (1910-45)
Following the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), Imperial Japan pushed Chinese influence out of Korea. After defeating the Russian Empire in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), Korea became a protectorate of Japan, and was annexed by Japan in 1910. Many Korean nationalists fled the country, and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was founded in China in 1919. However, it failed to receive international recognition, and did not have a good relation with U.S.-backed president Syngman Rhee.

Korean communists waged war against the Japanese internally and externally, and China helped organize Korean refugees against the Japanese. During World War II, the Nationalist-backed Koreans led by Yi Pom-Sok fought in the Burma Campaign, and the communists, led by Kim ll-sung and others, fought against Japanese forces in Korea and Manchuria, known as Manchuko while under Japanese rule. At the Cairo Conference in November 1943, the United States, United Kingdom, and China decided that Korea should become independent.

Division of Korea (1945-49)
On 8 September 1945, American Lieutenant General John R. Hodge arrived in Incheon to accept the Japanese surrender south of the 38th parallel. He was appointed as military governor of South Korea, and controlled the territory while it was under American military occupation. In an attempt to restore order, Hodge restored Japanese colonial administrators to power, but reversed the decision after protests broke out. The United States refused to recognize the short-lived People's Republic of Korea (PRK) due to the nation's suspected communist sympathies. Riots broke out among Koreans, and in order to contain them, the United States outlawed strikes and abolished the PRK and its government. The Representative Democratic Council, led by Syngman Rhee, opposed the trusteeship, and following more civil unrest, martial law was declared. The United States decided to hold an election under United Nations (UN) auspices with the aim of creating an independent Korea, but Soviet authorities and Korean communists refused to co-operate on the grounds that the election would not be fair. A general election was held in South Korea on 10 May 1948, and a parliamentary election was held in North Korea on 25 August 1948. This led to the establishment of the Republic of Korea (ROK), commonly referred to as South Korea, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly referred to as North Korea.

Korean War (1950-53)
On 25 June 1950, only two years after the Soviet Union withdrew from North Korea and a year after the United States withdrew from South Korea, North Korea invaded South Korea under the pretext that South Korean forces had attacked North Korea, and that they aimed to arrest and execute "the bandit traitor Syngman Rhee". The South Korean capital of Seoul was captured by North Korean forces within days, and North Korean forces had occupied all of South Korea except for the southeastern most areas by August 1950. When American forces arrived, what remained of the South Korean forces were placed under U.S. operational command. United Nations forces were able to reclaim territory, and pushed north of the 38th parallel in October 1950. Following the Chinese intervention in late October, UN forces were pushed back, and in early and mid-1951, there was intense fighting around the 38th parallel. For the two years from July 1951 to July 1953, there was a virtual stalemate, with very little territory being exchanged. On 27 July 1953, an armistice was signed, ending the fighting and establishing the new border where the stalemate had occurred.

Invasion of South Korea (2018)
In the early morning hours of 12 March 2018, the Korean People's Army (KPA) stormed the DMZ and launched a surprise attack on South Korean forces, who were unprepared for an invasion, under the false pretext that there was "concrete evidence" that South Korean forces were preparing to invade North Korea. The next day, after an ultimatum by the United States to immediately seize military activities in South Korea, the United States declared war on North Korea, followed by the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and France. American forces were quickly mobilized, and the United States began a bombing campaign of various targets across North Korea.