Korea (Blue Victory)

Korea is currently a semi-presidential republic founded in 1948 Located in on the Korean Peninsula on the border with Manchuria and Russia, it also borders the West Korean Sea (Yellow Sea replacement) and East Korean Sea (Sea of Japan/East Sea replacement) it was officially recognized by the United Nations as an observer state in 1951 and a member state in 1958. With 133,347,547 in population, Korea is the 9th largest country in terms of population in the world in 2021. The capital of the country is Seoul, a gargantuan metropolitan area of 41 million, is the largest city in the world in terms of population. The greater metropolitan area, which covers an area the size of Tokyo, has a total population of 52 million , making it the largest metropolitan area in the world. Since independence, it has had 3 forms of government, the Federal Republic of Korea (FRoK), Democratic Republic of Korea (DRoK), and 7 republics.

Flag of the Federal Republic of Korea

Flag of the Democratic Republic of Korea

Flag of the Republic of Korea

History

Korea (Blue Victory)
Nickname(s)	Korea
Motto(s)	홍익인간 ("To broadly benefit the human world")
Anthem	Aegukga (https://youtu.be/g9wQ9NPtaKg)
Capital	Seoul
Largest city	Seoul
Official language(s)	Korean, English
National language(s)	Korean, English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese
Ethnic groups	Korean, Chinese, Japanese, American
Religion	No official religion
Demonym(s)	Korean
Government	Semi-Presidential Republic
Legislature	Bicameral (General Assembly, Representative Assembly)
Formation	1948
Area	219,155 km²
HDI	0.93343
Currency	Korean Won (₩)
Time zone(s)	Korea Standard Time (GMT +9)
Date format	YYYY-MM-DD
Driving side	Left
Calling code	+82
Internet TLD	.kf

Seven Days to the Yalu River

The beginnings of Korea as it's modern day counterpart truly begins at the end of the Second World War. In 1946, the Soviet military occupied the Northern portion of the peninsula, while the United Nations occupied the Southern portion. In 1948, after the Han River Indent, Soviet soldiers were ordered to seize control of the city of Seoul. The Allied forces retaliated by sending 700,000 military personnel to the peninsula. The first soldiers landed five days after the Han River Incident. At this point, Soviet forces had occupied Seoul north of the Han River. A plan was drawn up to reach the Yalu River one week after an offensive is launched into Northern Seoul. The operation adopted the codename Seven Days to the Yalu River

The first offensive began on August 19, 1948 at 0525 hours. Allied forces crossed the river into Northern Seoul and began an assault on Soviet F.O.B.s in Uijeongbu and Goyang. Other forces along the border were also ordered to strike enemy territories. By 1151 hours, Soviet forces were pushed back to their original boundaries.

By the second and third day, Soviet forces were pushed back to Pyongyang. They took siege in the city and defended from North of the Taedong River. Allied forces settled in the South once more. They routinely shelled the North through the night until 0630 hours when they crossed the Taedong and pushed Soviet forces out of Pyongyang.

By the fifth day, Soviet forces were less than 50 kilometers from the border with the People's Republic of Manchuria. The Manchurian government sent in 30,000 personnel to support Soviet forces, but they were outnumbered. Allied forces were making heavy advances and were expected to reach the Yalu Rover by the seventh or even sixth day.

By the seventh and final day, Soviet forces held out at the river, refusing to cross back into Manchuria. For 14 hours, they held siege at the river, with only around a remaining territory of less than 1 kilometer wide. At 1641 hours, Allied forces struck Soviet forces during the Battle of Paektu, driving Soviet and Manchurian forces out of the peninsula.

Allied forces began an advance into Manchuria, advancing towards the Manchurian capital of Shenyang, but was backed up the the rest of the Soviet forces, which were originally going to support the Korean forces. Allied forces held siege outside of Shenyang, bombing it from fighter aircraft from Korea. Eventually, by the 11th day of the war, they began to get pushed back to Korea. By Day 16, they were pushed back to the Yalu,holding out for another 3 weeks.

By Day 50, the Soviet and Manchurian government proposed a peace treaty that would end the siege of the Yalu River. The treaty stated that Soviet forces would withdraw from the peninsula if the Korean and U.S. government paid war reparations until 1960. The allies agreed on the terms that the border between Manchuria and the U.S.S.R would be demilitarized within a 5 kilometer radius. A proposed bridge into the U.S.S.R and Manchuria was drawn up but not greenlit until 1979.

On October 13, 1948, the U.S.S.R, Manchuria, Korea, and the Allied forces signed the Treaty of Chongjin, officially ending the war. The 13 provinces of the Korean Empire were restored 2 months after the war. Before this, the entire peninsula was governed under a single body with no administrative divisions. The restored provinces became federal departments.

First Republic of Korea (First Federal Republic) (1948-1960)

Three months after the war, President Syngman Rhee signed an executive order to begin the reconstruction of Seoul and Pyongyang. He also signed the proposed Korea Highway Project in 1958, which would link Chongjin with Busan via Seoul and Pyongyang by a 4-lane expressway. The plan for Seoul and Pyongyang reconstruction was to clear sections of the debris, around 60 percent of each city, and destroy all still standing buildings to finish the project by building newer buildings. The plan wasn't greenlit until 1963, construction began in 1965, and was finished in 1972, over a decade after the First Federal Republic's fall.

In 1953, the first embassies in Seoul were constructed in the new Dae-sagwan (Korean for "embassy") district built in 1952. The first countries to establish embassies were Japan, the U.S, the U.K, France, West Germany, and the U.S.S.R. Each embassy was designated a safe-zone within a kilometer of their chancery building. No embassy's safe-zone was allowed to intersect another, so embassies were dispersed throughout the Dae-sagwan district. Construction of the U.S. and U.K. embassies finished in 1957, the French embassy in 1958, the West German embassy in 1959, and the Soviet embassy in 1960. The Soviet embassy was completed only 2 weeks before the fall of the First Federal Republic. United States overseas bases were also constructed there, notably Yongsan Garrison (actual base irl) in Seoul. Air Force, Army, and Navy bases were all constructed across the peninsula, as the country shared a border with socialist Manchuria and the Soviet Union.

The fall of the First Federal Republic began after the first Korean general election began after Syngman Rhee did not run for re-election. This was Korea's first general election without a re-election campaign, so the election was severely disorganized. There were talks of fraudulent votes being added to the votes by the parties of candidates. The first votes could not even be confirmed due to the fraudulent voting. In November 1960, just weeks before the December Election Day, riots began to break out in Seoul, where the votes were still attempting to get confirmation. Outside the United States embassy, embassy security attempted to prevent the riots from entering the embassy, but at 1730 hours, security could not hold the riots back any further. Security was knocked over by the crowds and were trampled. 15 security members were severely injured and 7 security members were killed. The crowds began to infiltrate the embassy, looting and destroying most of it. Embassy staff were evacuated to the third floor of the embassy, where the riots were shut out by a large, steel security door. The embassy staff would be locked on the third floor for 4 days, rationing food and water among the embassy staff.until the next morning, when they made a daring escape out the South window. A helicopter was dispatched earlier to evacuate the staff, but they had to stay high to stay above the riots. All important documents were carefully bagged by the staff and placed in briefcases to load onto the helicopter. At 0836 hours, the embassy staff boarded the helicopter and escaped to Yongsan Garrison. Just 15 minutes later, the steel security door was breached and the embassy was seized by the riots. The French and British embassies were also evacuated, but riots were not as forceful as outside of their embassies. The Soviet and West German embassies were the only embassies not evacuated.

On December 12, 1960, 4 days before election day, a group of people named the Hyeokmyeong-ga (Korean for Revolutionary) seized control of the Korean parliament and executive palace, crippling Korean control of the peninsula. Syngman Rhee was held hostage in the executive palace. The Hyeokmyeong-ga demanded that they would seize control of the Korean government until peace normalizations could be made. The Korean and U.S. government agreed on the terms that American bases were to be declared U.S. sovereign territory until peace normalizations could be made and that the American embassy would be emptied and gained sovereignty as the American Embassy State of Korea as an American protectorate for the remainder of the conflict. Syngman Rhee was freed the next day after agreements were finalized. He would be deposed and exiled to the United States.

Agreements were formalized on December 21, known as Hyeokmyeong Day of 1960. The Second Republic of Korea, known as the Democratic Republic of Korea from the Third to Fourth Republic, was formed.

Second Republic of Korea (First Democratic Republic) (1960-1970)

The Second Federal Republic of Korea was formed on December 22, 1960. Park Chung-Hee, commander-in-chief of the Federal Korean Army and leader of the Hyeokmyeong Movement, was appointed as President. The position would later be known as the General Minister. Private media companies were seized by the government and state television and media were established. The United States was furious by these changes and declared that their military bases in Korea would be isolated from the mainland Korean government by establishing them as sovereign American territory and closing and fortifying their borders. (WIP)

Government

Federal Republic of Korea (1948-1960, 1985-2010)

(WIP)