Timeline of conflict: Creation of the modern Koreas

The U.S.’s ongoing war of words with North Korea is the product of more than a century of conflict over the Korean Peninsula

Section:Gallery

Thu., Aug. 10, 2017

President Bill Clinton, (center) South Korean President Kim Young Sam, left, and Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Gen. Raymond Davis walk towards one of the 19 statues comprising the Korean War Memorial during its dedication on July 27, 1995 in Washington. Constructed of 19 statues, a reflecting pool and historic photographs, the memorial pays tribute to the 1.5 million Americans who fought in the Korean War. The memorial was dedicated on July 27, the anniversary of the armistice agreement which brought the war to an end in 1953.

Chuck Kennedy Krt
In this February 1948 file photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency and distributed by Korea News Service, Kim Il Sung attends the military parade celebrating the creation of the North Korean People's Army. For nearly 70 years, the three generations of the Kim family have run North Korea with an absolute rule that tolerates no dissent. The ruling family has devoted much of the country's scarce resources to its military but has constantly feared Washington is intent on destroying the authoritarian government.

Korean Central News Agency Korea News Service
In this in September 1950 file photo, United Nations troops fire from a barricade in Seoul, South Korea. The building at left carries portraits of Soviet leader Josef Stalin and North Korean leader Kim Il Sung. For nearly 70 years, the three generations of the Kim family have run North Korea with an absolute rule that tolerates no dissent. The ruling family has devoted much of the country's scarce resources to its military but has constantly feared Washington is intent on destroying the authoritarian government.

Max Desfor Associated Press
** FILE ** This photo provided by author Woo-sung Han, retired U.S. Army Col. Young Oak Kim, lower right, hands a soldier a shell during the Korean War in the winter of 1951. During World War II, Kim played a key role in helping the Allies capture Rome and liberate several French towns. In the Korean War, he led a combat unit that pushed enemy forces back from the 38th parallel, creating a strategic wrinkle in the line that divides North and South Korea.

Woo-Sung Han Associated Press
FILE--North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and his son, Jong Il, are pictured in what is believed to be Paekdoo San, the scenic mountain located along the Sino-North Korean border in this undated color photo released February in Tokyo by Korea News Service.
FILE - In this April 1981 file photo, the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il gestures while taking a stroll with the late his father, Kim Il Sung, right, in Pyongyang, North Korea. When Kim Jong Un took the helm of North Korea in late 2011, speculation swirled around the young leader.

Kyodo News Ap
Orphaned North Korean children eat food rations delivered by the Red Cross to an isolated village in Hwangehe province in North Korea. The International Red Cross announced Saturday, May 31, 1997, after sending a team for two-weeks, the plan to feed 700,000 North Koreans who are now sliding closer to widespread famine.

Geoff Dennis Associated Press
Malnourished North Korean children sit in a nursery in T'osan, North Hwanghae province, south of Pyongyang, Monday, Oct. 20, 1997. The children's black hair has turned brown and white, the result of vitamin deficiency. The children have been receiving food aid in the form of a corn-soya blend, a special nutritional porridge, but the nursery's head mistress indicated the supply will not last much longer, and they are hoping for more international food aid.

Kathi Zellweger Associated Press
South Korean chief delegate Jeong Se-hyun, right, shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart, Jon Kum-chol, left, in Beijing Saturday April 11, 1998. The talks are the first government level meetings between the two rival Koreas since the death of North Korea's leader Kim Il-sung in 1994. North Korea called for the talks to discuss fertiliser-aid to the famine-stricken country. Seoul has made it clear it expects political concessions, particularly on the issue of the reunions among families dividedsince the Korean War.

Greg Baker Associated Press
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, dark suits at right bottom of Kim Jong Il's feet, accompanied by political and military officials, attends the unveiling ceremony for statues of late leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il on Munsudae hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, April 13, 2012.

Ng Han Guan Associated Press
A portrait of late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung glows from a spot light as dusk descends upon Pyongyang, North Korea, Friday, Dec. 14, 2012.

Ng Han Guan Associated Press
In this April 15, 2017, file photo, canisters containing missiles are displayed in Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea. Kim Jong Un has something his father and grandfather could only dream of, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States with a nuclear weapon.

Wong Maye-E Associated Press
FILE - In this April 15, 2017, file photo, soldiers goose-step across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, during a parade to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. The message of the parade is clear: North Korea is, or is near to being, able to launch a pre-emptive strike against a regional target. It is preparing to withstand a retaliatory follow-up attack if it does, and it is building the arsenal it needs to then launch a second wave of strikes, this time at the U.S. mainland.

Wong Maye-E Associated Press
In this April 15, 2017, file photo, submarine-launched ballistic missiles are paraded across Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country's late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. Kim Jong Un has something his father and grandfather could only dream of, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States with a nuclear weapon.

Wong Maye-E Associated Press
FILE - In this undated file photo distributed by the North Korean government on May 22, 2017, a solid-fuel "Pukguksong-2" missile lifts off during its launch test at an undisclosed location in North Korea. North Korea said Wednesday that it was examining operational plans for attacking Guam, an angry reaction to U.N. punishment for recent North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile tests and a U.S. suggestion about preparations for possible preventive attacks to stop the Norths nuclear weapons program.

Korean Central News Agency Korea News Service
FILE - This file photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Donald Trumps threat to unleash fire and fury on North Korea might have been written by Pyongyangs propaganda mavens, so perfectly does it fit the Norths cherished claim that it is a victim of American aggression.

Korean Central News Agency Korea News Service
FILE - In this image made from video of a news bulletin aired by North Korea's KRT on Monday, May 22, 2017, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, watches the test launch of what was said to be the Pukguksong-2 missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea.North Korea said Wednesday that it was examining operational plans for attacking Guam, an angry reaction to U.N. punishment for recent North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile tests and a U.S. suggestion about preparations for possible preventive attacks to stop the Norths nuclear weapons program.

Korean Central News Agency Korea News Service
FILE - In this July 28, 2017, file photo distributed by the North Korean government, shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. North Korea was the main concern cited in the "white paper" approved by Japan's Cabinet on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, less than two weeks after the North test-fired its second ICBM. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the Korean Central News Agency via Korea News Service.

Korean Central News Agency Korea News Service