Korea (An Honorable Retelling)

Korean Republic Корея Республика Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  Широко извлекать выгоду человек мир "To broadly benefit the human world"
Anthem:  Антем "Aegukga"
Capital		Gaegyeong
Largest city		Hanyang
Official languages		Korean
Regional languages		Russian, Japanese, French
Religion		Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Korean Buddhism
Demonym		Korean
Government		Unitary presidential constitutional republic
-	President	Yuri Kim
-	Vice President	Vladimir Yoon
Legislature		Republican Council
Population
-	2021 census	46,321,392
Currency		Korean won (₩)
Drives on the		right

Korea (Korean: Корея), officially the Korean Republic (Korean: Корея Республика) is a country in Northeastern Asia. The country is bordered by Russia and China to the north and sharing a maritime border with Japan to the east and south.

With the earliest kingdom on the Korean peninsula forming in 2334 BC, Korea would subsequently see various independent Korean kingdoms and states arise. Korea's independence streak would be broken in 1597, following the Japanese conquest of the peninsula. Korea would subsequently end up under the influence of several foreign powers including Russia, France, and Japan again before eventually gaining independence again in 2003 following Japanese withdrawal from the peninsula.

Gaining independence in 2003, Korea is a member of the Global Treaty Organization, the World Treaty Organization, and the Orthodox Christian Economic Community.

History

Early history (pre-918)

Gojoseon was the first documented Korean kingdom to have formed on the peninsula. The kingdom of Gojoseon was said to have been established by Dangun in 2333 BC, but documentation of the state didn't start appearing until Chinese records in the 4th century BC began mentioning it. After the fall of Gojoseon, subsequent dynasties such as Gija Joseon, Wiman Joseon, and the Chinese-backed Four Commanderies of Han. During this time, subsequent Chinese-influenced Korean states and kingdoms would arise before the eventual consolidation of the peninsula under the three kingdoms of Korea, beginning the three kingdoms period.

The largest of the three kingdoms was Goguryeo, which controlled 2/3rds of the peninsula and saw a strong, centralized government under King Taejodae. Goguryeo (also spelled as Koguryŏ), also spelled as Goryeo (Koryŏ), and it eventually became the source of the modern name of Korea. The Three Kingdoms Period would see other states rise and fall before eventually progressing into what historians now call the Later Three Kingdoms period. By 918. the state of Goryeo, led by the House of Wang, would successfully unify most of the Korean peninsula under its rule.

Goryeo (918-1597)

In 936, Goryeo would eliminate the last major pocket of resistance to its rule on the peninsula when an army of 87,500 soldiers led by Kyon Hwon would conquer the state of Later Baekje. Afterwards, the Balhae people and nobility were incorporated into Goryeo with little resistance. Following the total destruction of Balhae by the Khitan people to the north, the Balhae people and nobility were incorporated into Goryeo where they were welcomed warmly by the ruling House of Wang. With the Balhae nobility integrated into Goryeo, Korea underwent the first "true unification" in its history.

A military flag of Goryeo (c. 1100)

As discussed in the Zizhi Tongjian, the Song dynasty and Goryeo eventually teamed up and attacked the Khitans in retaliation for the destruction of Balhae. In the aftermath of the Goryeo–Khitan War, the Liao Dynasty emerged significantly weakened and Goryeo and the Song Dynasty had emerged as regional powers in continental East Asia. This marked the beginning of the Golden Age of Goryeo in which the House of Wang would rule the Korean peninsula largely unopposed.

The Golden Age of Goryeo would also result in unprecedented territorial expansion for Korea. The Tamna kingdom of Jeju Island was annexed into Goryeo in 1105. During this time, the economic influence of Korea would also expand, with Korean merchants reportedly reaching as far as the Arabian Peninsula and Mali throughout the 1030s to 1050s. During this time, Emperor Munjong of Goryeo also led a series of campaigns against the Jurchen in the Korean borderlands, resulting in Goryeo conquering ten villages in the northern part of the peninsula. Despite the strength and consistent victories experienced by Goryeo, the Golden Age of Goryeo would come to an end in 1300 following a Song Dynasty military expedition into the Korean peninsula, transforming Goryeo into a Chinese client state.

As a client state of the Song dynasty, Goryeo's military was significantly cut back as the emperors had to reallocate resources towards paying tribute. As a result of this military weakening, Goryeo became increasingly dependent on the Chinese for its own defense and was unable to counter Japanese incursions into the Sea of Japan and Jeju Island. With a weakened navy, Japan was able to decisively defeat the Korean navy at the Battle of Myeongnyang. With no Korean navy to defend the peninsula and the Song dynasty preoccupied with wars in the New World and to the north, the Japanese were able to conquer the Korean peninsula by the end of 1597, ending Goryeo in the process.

Japanese Korea (1597-1757)

Following the entrance of Japanese forces into Gaegyeong, the House of Wang was immediately deposed and exiled into Song territory. Under the dominion of the First Japanese Empire, ethnic Korean noblemen had their titles stripped and usurped by members of the Imperial House of Japan. By the early 1600s, most of the fiefdoms in the southern Korean peninsula were under the control of ethnic Japanese nobles. However, Japanese control on the Korean peninsula was extremely weak due to close proximity to the pro-Korean Song dynasty. As a result, Japanese rule in northern Korea relied on collaborating with ethnic Korean nobles. As a result of this, the people of northern Korea were able to largely resist cultural assimilation efforts and Korean culture survived. In contrast, Korean nobility in the south gradually integrated into Japanese culture, adopting Japanese names and the Japanese alphabet in the Korean language.

Japanese rule in Korea was largely one-sided and exploitative of the Korean people. Key resources on the Korean peninsula were extracted and used to fuel the Japanese Empire's overseas territories in Columbia and Oceania. Indentured servants were sent overseas to Kosuto and worked for cheap labor, fueling the early economy of Japanese Columbia. As a result, economic growth on the Korean peninsula remained stagnant throughout the 1600s whereas the Song dynasty and Japan maintained economic growth even as events such as the Great Plague rattled the Asian continent.

By the 18th century, Japanese hegemony in East Asia and the Korean peninsula began to wane as the insurgent Russian Empire began its expansion into Northeast Asia and Alaska, dealing significant blows to Japan's pacific fleet. Following the outbreak of the First Great War, a Russian expeditionary force led by Dmitry Pavlutsky would march into the Korean peninsula unopposed. Wang Sun, a distant relative to the House of Wang, nobleman, and Japanese collaborator, would defect and assist the Russians in their conquest of the peninsula. As a result, he was appointed as the Russian backed monarch of the newly restored Korean kingdom.

Russian Korea (1757-1863)

A Russian Orthodox Church in the city of Pyongyang (built in 1789)

Despite a very loose connection to the original House of Wang which ruled Goryeo, Wang Sun proclaimed himself as Emperor of Korea and re-established the House of Wang while also pledging military and economic loyalty to Tsar Peter III of Russia. The Russian period of Korean history would see attempts by Russia to integrate Korean into their broader project of Russification. From the 1770s until the early 1800s, Russian Orthodox missionaries would enter the Korean peninsula and attempt to convert locals to Orthodox Christianity. While a small Russian Orthodox community formed in the capital of Gaegyeong, its spread would largely be limited due to a lack of cooperation from local Korean nobility.

Russian Empress Catherine the Great (pictured) sought to annex Korea into the Russian Empire

A Cyrillic Korean alphabet would be proposed in the 1770s and was eventually adopted within the court of Emperor Wang Jun but wouldn't impact the lives of many Koreans who remained largely illiterate. Korean peasants would enlist in the Imperial Russian Army, being stationed as far as Alaska, Gavayi, and Continental Europe. Greater integration of the Koreans within Imperial Russia continued into the late 1700s, with Catherine the Great proposing an outright annexation of the country in 1790. These efforts to assimilate the Koreans into the Russian Empire would create resentment among many Korean nobles and collaborationists, resulting in a reinvigorated Korean nationalist movement.

On 12 June 1815, with Russia distracted with their war against Napoleon in the Second Great War, Emperor Wang Kwang expelled Russian envoys from Gaegyeong and issued a full declaration of independence from the Russian Empire, ending its protectorate status.

Independence and isolationism (1815-1863)

Immediately upon its independence, Korea had embraced isolationism and Emperor Wang Kwang sought to expel foreign influences from the peninsula. With Russia and Japan both distracted in their own foreign entanglements, the Korean government would forcefully expel Japanese and Russian settlers and missionaries from the peninsula while reinforcing Buddhism as the state religion of Korea. During this period of isolationism, the only serious attempt made to interact with the Korean peninsula would come from Scotland, which attempted to conquer the Korean Peninsula in 1825 through its territory in Naomh Lazarus but would ultimately face a decisive defeat at the Battle of Dongnae on 17 June 1825.

This failed invasion only furthered Korean isolationism and a rejection of western influence, leading many western orientalists to take fascination with Korea. In turn, this staunch isolationism led to Columbian writer Cincinnatus de Jonge writing his famous 1828 book Korea: The Hermit Nation, resulting in the term the "Hermit Kingdom" to become universally associated with Korea and the Korean state. While the Korean Empire was isolated, it would still trade with the Song dynasty and allowed Dutch traders to enter the country at the port in Dongnae.

This continued isolation would ultimately cost Korea its independence. Following the decline of the Song from the 19th century onwards, there was no Asian power which was able to prevent further European intrusion into Asia. As a result, France successfully began to grow its influence in East Asia through the propagation of treaty ports within China and imposing a protectorate onto Đại Việt in 1858. Fearing the French takeover of his kingdom, Korean Emperor Wang Li began to punitively execute French mercenaries operating within his territory. This ended up drawing the ire of France, which sought to occupy Korea and topple Wang Li for his crimes. With Japan refusing to directly challenge the French Empire, France successfully invaded the Korean peninsula in 1858, imposing a protectorate onto Korea on 22 November 1863. Wang Li's brother, Wang Ji-hwan, was appointed as the new Emperor of French Korea due to his pro-French sympathies.