로마는 하루아침에 이루어진 것이 아니다 ~ A Republic of Korea AAR.

[RV-Ye]

Prologue: An opportunity for the Han People. (Part I)
"Saving our planet requires you to be ambitious in what you aim, and, equally, in how hard you work to reach your goal." - Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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Seoul, Republic of Korea. ~ August 15th, 2018.

People all over the country is happy, after all, it's another year that the Republic of Korea has remained independent. Challenges plagued the past, foreign and domestic enemies tried to destroy the legacy of one of the greatest countries in Asia and even the world but the strength of the korean people was unmatched.
There were numerous challenges on Korea's journey but even those decided to break apart the peninsula were received with the fighting will of the korean people; no one was going to meddle with their destiny again.
Even people from other countries were impressed over the achievements made by Korea since the japanese occupation ended on August 15th, 1945. The country had a tumultuous past and several scars made during her occupation by Imperial Japan, since 1910, only the Second World War and the japanese defeat brought an end to the terrible actions of Japan in the peninsula.

Children holding taegukgi, the Korean national flag.
​

The journey Korea had to traverse was a rough one, after all, the japanese weren't the only ones trying to choose the fate of the Han people, of the Korean nation. The Soviet Union was decided to have a say in the future and development of the peninsula, it was seen as something fair to some people as they were the ones who "liberated" the northern part of the peninsula from the brutal japanese occupation.
But it was a matter of time to fully understand what was going on, it took few time for the koreans to comprehend their situation in the new global stage.
However, today (August 15th, 2018) the situation is quite different from the one that was taking place seventy years ago; when the first korean government took power in Seoul since the japanese annexation.

K-Pop group, Red Velvet, during their performance in 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics; one member was absent.
​

No one in Korea, during the first years of independence, would have known the great future that awaited them. The reversal of all the tragic events that shook the peninsula creating chaos and misery through each centimeter of it.
Of course, challenges were ahead but the korean people would eventually prove to be ready.

Map showing the Republic of Korea borders by 2018.
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Welcome to my newest attempt at an AAR!
​

As you can see, the country I'll be playing is the Republic of Korea, I'll be using New World Order mod and our start date will be 1950.
As I already learned from my previous attempt (Beneath the Sun) I won't try to post daily or rush with updates...yeah I know I didn't updated many times that one...

I'll try to improve quality over quantity. I'm not native english speaker so it's quite hard for me to order sentences properly, I mean, not while having a conversation but narrating in english is quite different for me.
Regarding the style of this AAR, you may know I'll be experimenting and testing different kind of narrations.

I may stick to one or not, however, something I like will be using characters so expect some narratives from 1950 or even 2018. Also, I know someone must be going "Oh no, kpop in an AAR" when he/she saw the Red Velvet picture.
Yeah...I kinda like it, but kpop is more a modern thingy so don't worry, you'll be safe while we are in 1950; unless I choose to narrate something in 2018.

I think that's all for this moment, I hope you enjoy this journey with our little country. ^^
(Eventually, my main goal would be to reach the 21st Century but I may or may not be able to do so)

I'll try my best.

EDIT::: If you wanted to know the meaning of the title::
Rome was not made overnight.

Mild interactivity approved by Mr.C on September 14th, 2021.

 

[stnylan]

Nice introduction.

 

[RV-Ye]

Nice introduction.

You are so kind ^^ thanks.

( Just noticed I read one of your AAR's in the past, one for Victoria 2, it helped me to understand some aspects of the game haha)

 

[stnylan]

You are so kind ^^ thanks.

( Just noticed I read one of your AAR's in the past, one for Victoria 2, it helped me to understand some aspects of the game haha)

Well, thank you for mentioning that. Glad it was of aid

 

[Vlad_Dracul1989]

Looks splendid so far.

 

[RV-Ye]

Prologue: An opportunity for the Han people. (Part II)
"We must do our part to end poverty in Korea so that the next generation doesn't experience what we are going through now." - Park Chung-hee, former president of the Republic of Korea.
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Pyongyang, Republic of Korea. ~ October 1st, 2018.

Kim Se-yeon was trying to focus on her book, after all, the next week she had an important test along a class project to present. It was tough, she didn't like history as she found it quite boring, at least her test was about biology something she truly loved and had interest in. Meanwhile, her little sister, Kim Min-seo, was listening to her music upstairs. It was impressive because Se-yeon was able to hear it even when Min-seo had the door closed, it was evident she was hearing that girlgroup once again; "Is it Twice or Red Velvet?" ~ Se-yeon thought, trying to avoid getting distracted again.

The last time she ended up going upstairs to ask her sister to turn off the music, things went south. She didn't fight with her, the issue was, she ended singing along her for quite a long time.

"I'm not going up there again, I must finish this project or I'll be dead within a week." ~ was the only thing at her mind.

"Well, let's order priorities." ~ she said and soon she placed another book on the desk, it was called [Modern History: Korea] written by some american, the teacher had ask for that one. She was unsure about the reason, after all, government issued books were quite good as well. "Now, I'm already good at biology...but I'm not at history, however, I'll be quite bored if I start reading this huge book...ugh. I wish it was a team project, Kang-ho is quite good with history."
And before she was able to take a choice, she had an idea, she suddenly took her phone and opened an app; a roulette, it wasn't the best way to solve things but she was already used to it after trusting that same app several decisions.

Not a very smart choice...
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Modern History: Korea. - Wade Barnett.
​

The modern history of Korea is quite a complex one, therefore, it's necessary to understand how it came to be. The key to understanding the korean development is to learn about her very own past, however, in this book I won't detail her past before the 20th Century because it would make this study quite extensive.
However there's an important mention: the first sino-japanese war (1894-1895).
It's important to comprehend what changes that war created in the region, for the first time Korea got her own independence recognized. We must understand that it was seen as a tributary state by China in the past and even if it was independent, nobody thought the same.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki eventually abolished the traditional relationship between China and Korea, the former recognized the complete independence of the peninsula and stopped their influence on the country.

After that occurred, Korea turned itself into the Korean Empire by King Gojong who eventually became Emperor Gojong. The change took place in 1897, the imperial government aimed towards being a strong country and being capable of preserving the independence by implementing reforms, strengthening the armed forces and developing the economy and trade. This process is called the Gwangmu Reform, the events that took place during this period were meant to modernize and westernize the country in order to achieve the success that Japan managed to get after the Meiji Restoration and the reforms made in the island nation.
The Gwangmu Reform can be considered a huge success. After all, modern urban infrastructure was built and eventually the emperor allowed the creation of joint ventures with American businessmen leading to the formation of Hanseong Electric Company and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company. Hanseong Electric Company operated the public electrical lightning network and telephone was also introduced to the peninsula.

Flag of the Korean Empire. (1897-1910)​

During the Gwangmu period, the industrial promotion policy was heavily supported and promoted by the korean government. It gave support for the founding and funding of technical and industrial schools in order to train the population towards the future; as industrialization needs capable workforce in order to maximize the benefits. Modernized weaving factories appeared through the peninsula in order to placate the domestic demand towards textiles. During this period there was also an important cultural change, as the Western-style official uniforms were introduced to Korea. In the past, Korea mocked the japanese for adopting the Western-style after their Meiji Restoration but eventually the change arrived to the peninsula.
At the start, the emperor wore Prussian-style royal attires and the diplomats used the western suits. Eventually, that trend became the official uniform for korean civil officials and years later even policemen and soldiers joined too.

Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire.​

The Korean Empire at this stage was heavily influenced by Russia, however, Japan was getting more and more influence in the region as it kept strengthening itself. Evidence of russian influence in Korea is that the korean army of that period of time was trained by the russians. It was obvious that some kind of conflict was developing, Russia's influence was rejected by Imperial Japan and it took few time for the tensions to start. The Taft-Katsura agreement (Made between United States and Japan) practically recognized Japan's rights regarding the peninsula as the american secretary of war expressed that Japan guiding Korea would "contribute to permanent peace in the Far East".
And soon, the Russo-Japanese war erupted in 1904 and the aftermath would totally shift the political landscape in the Far East.

After the war ended in 1905, Russia was humiliated, her army and navy were defeated by Japan; a nation that decades before that date was barely modernizing. The war changed Korea's destiny as it was now totally under influence of Japan, the Treaty of Portsmouth placed Korea in Japan's sphere of influence and it eventually allowed Japan to impose a protectorate status into the peninsula. The korean imperial palace was under occupation by japanese troops and several key locations had IJA men deployed in them, it was clear that Japan had the upper hand and therefore, the Eulsa Treaty took place.
It turned Korea into a japanese protectorate and it basically finished with her independence in all but name, there were several members of the government that signed the treaty however the emperor, the prime minister, the finance minister and the minister of justice were the only ones to openly oppose the treaty.

Imperial Japanese Army troops arriving at Korea during the Russo-Japanese War.​

In 1907, the Gwangmu Emperor was forced to abdicate in favor of his son. There were diplomatic attempts to free Korea from the forced protectorate status it had with Japan now, but none of the Great Powers supported the korean people. The Great Powers viewed Korea as a natural protectorate for Japan after her previous relations with China, they also thought that japanese influence in the peninsula would benefit the country. Emperor Sunjong, was the second and last emperor of Korea due to his attempts to regain korean independence from Japan.
And everything finished in a sudden way on August 22nd, 1910.
The Japan-Korea Treaty of 1910 took place, the one that stole the korean independence.
The Emperor Sunjong didn't sign the treaty as required by korean law, however, prime minister Lee Wan-yong and resident general Count Terauchi Masatake of the Japanese Empire were the ones to sign it.
It was the end, this was the end of Korea and a long time passed before the Han people managed to regain her freedom.

Map of Japan in 1914, Korea and Taiwan were already part of the Japanese Empire.
(Taiwan since the 1894-1895 war, Korea after 1910)
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Pyongyang, Republic of Korea. ~ October 1st, 2018.

After reading the introduction, Se-yeon felt she had enough for a day. Perhaps not, but she suddenly heard another song from upstairs, this time it was BlackPink's "Ddu-du Ddu-du" released on June.
"Maybe I can continue in a while...after all, the book will be here waiting for me to finish it, why not" ~ she thought before closing the book and heading upstairs.

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That's all for now, hope you enjoyed it.
There will be a part three for the prologue, so, just wait for me to gather enough strength to continue translating my work

 

[stnylan]

If I might suggest a matter of presentational detail: leave a clear blank line between paragraphs as it makes things clearer. For example if I take an early section.

You wrote:
Kim Se-yeon was trying to focus on her book, after all, the next week she had an important test along a class project to present. It was tough, she didn't like history as she found it quite boring, at least her test was about biology something she truly loved and had interest in. Meanwhile, her little sister, Kim Min-seo, was listening to her music upstairs. It was impressive because Se-yeon was able to hear it even when Min-seo had the door closed, it was evident she was hearing that girlgroup once again; "Is it Twice or Red Velvet?" ~ Se-yeon thought, trying to avoid getting distracted again.
The last time she ended up going upstairs to ask her sister to turn off the music, things went south. She didn't fight with her, the issue was, she ended singing along her for quite a long time.
"I'm not going up there again, I must finish this project or I'll be dead within a week." ~ was the only thing at her mind.

I would suggest adding lines so it ends up like this:
Kim Se-yeon was trying to focus on her book, after all, the next week she had an important test along a class project to present. It was tough, she didn't like history as she found it quite boring, at least her test was about biology something she truly loved and had interest in. Meanwhile, her little sister, Kim Min-seo, was listening to her music upstairs. It was impressive because Se-yeon was able to hear it even when Min-seo had the door closed, it was evident she was hearing that girlgroup once again; "Is it Twice or Red Velvet?" ~ Se-yeon thought, trying to avoid getting distracted again.

The last time she ended up going upstairs to ask her sister to turn off the music, things went south. She didn't fight with her, the issue was, she ended singing along her for quite a long time.

"I'm not going up there again, I must finish this project or I'll be dead within a week." ~ was the only thing at her mind.

I hope that demonstrates what I mean.

 

[RV-Ye]

If I might suggest a matter of presentational detail: leave a clear blank line between paragraphs as it makes things clearer.

I hope that demonstrates what I mean.

Thanks!

I was confused about doing so or not, I've seen many AAR-writers manage to write huge paragraphs and I felt it was going to be so small if I did that.
It's a bit difficult for me to write with the length others do, mainly because translating all my ideas turns into a messy affair.

Anyways, thanks ^^ I appreciate it.

 

[stnylan]

Thanks!

I was confused about doing so or not, I've seen many AAR-writers manage to write huge paragraphs and I felt it was going to be so small if I did that.
It's a bit difficult for me to write with the length others do, mainly because translating all my ideas turns into a messy affair.

Anyways, thanks ^^ I appreciate it.

Don't worry about trying to write huge pargraphs. Smaller, easier to read paragraphs, are almost always better than large paragraphs

 

[Lol_LouisThen]

Good AAR!

But hoping that the world cup is included as well, regarding the South Korean team. Respect their fighting spirit, especially the number 7 Son.

 

[RV-Ye]

If someone's wondering when will actual gameplay begin let me say that I'll probably add two more parts to the prologue and then we shall begin our korean journey.
^^

Good AAR!

But hoping that the world cup is included as well, regarding the South Korean team. Respect their fighting spirit, especially the number 7 Son.

Thanks, I'm already working with the next part of the prologue detailing the japanese occupation of Korea.

Regarding the world cup, yeah I'll probably mention it. (The issue is I do now know too much about soccer but I'll try my best)
I'll try to use my 2018 narratives in order to give a small sight of what future awaits for this game as Korea.

 

[RV-Ye]

Prologue: An opportunity for the Han people. (Part III)
"If there’s something you want to do, then that means you have a goal. But that goal may change as you live. You never know when your interests may change direction, so always anticipate it, day by day." - Kim Tae-yeon, south korean singer.
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Sinuiju, Republic of Korea. [Korean-Chinese border, near the Yalu River] ~ May 22nd, 2018.

Son Soo-young was bored to death. At least the World Cup was going to start soon, it would give her something to do while the reports kept coming to the HQ. She knew the situation was dangerous but she was conscious that the leader of the Worker's Republic of China wasn't deluded as Mao had been, he wasn't going to start a war against the Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. After all, those border clashes in the WRC-ROC border were done by rebellious partisans trying to weaken the control of the Communist Party.

The Republic of China was once locked in Taiwan, however, circumstances allowed them to retake some provinces in southern China while the Korean Army was forced to enter into Manchuria after the People's Liberation Army tried to cross the Yalu. Those years were quite chaotic for the People's Republic of China but eventually the Korean Army managed to secure the region and it eventually gave the control to the Republic of China.

Republic of China troops in Manchuria.​

But the situation was so different now, while Manchuria was part of the Republic of China, most of the economy was owned by korean chaebols and there were even korean military bases and outposts in some parts of it. Korea's economy development eventually gave Manchuria some stability, freeing it from the chaotic partisans that plagued ROC-held southern China for some time.

Soo-young knew it and almost everyone in Korea did as well, war wasn't going to start and it had less than 5% chances of taking place. The leader of the Worker's Republic was weird, sometimes he acted as a benevolent leader trying to improve relations with Korea, China and the world; however, the next day he was spouting words against capitalism, against Korea and claiming to be the one who would free the rest of China from her "imperialist oppression". But at least it was left in empty words, the PLA didn't have the capacity to launch a double invasion and even if they did; their equipment was just trash, according to the High Command.

It was a strange kind of status quo, but a peaceful status quo at least...

Hong Kong, one of the wealthies places in Asia just after Seoul, relations between the Republic of Hong Kong and Korea are qutie friendly, however, the Republic of China resents Hong Kong for not joining them.
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Modern History: Korea. - Wade Barnett.
​

Things changed quickly for the korean people after the peninsula was annexed by Japan. The authorization of the Great Powers had allowed Korea to be swallowed by the Japanese Empire. But even before that treaty the japanese were already moving towards Korea, trying to claim land or start up businesses in order to improve their own economy by taking advantage of Korea as a whole. There were already koreans that were pro-japanese, as the murder of Queen Min showed at the final years of the 19th Century.

Queen Min/Empress Myeongseong war murdered in 1895 by japanese ronin and there were koreans involved too.​

Many koreans even changed their names to japanese ones, thinking that it would allow them to get the favor of japanese officials and help them to climb in the social ladder. However, count Terauki Masatake acted against this, barring ethnic koreans from taking japanese names and reverting the names of those koreans that already changed theirs. It's ironic because in 1939 Japan would choose to change their own policy by forcing koreans to surrender family names and adopt japanese surnames. It's obvious that Japan did this in an attempt to assimilate the population but it was too late and the events of World War Two would take away Korea from the empire.

In cultural matters Japan was quite ambivalent with her policy. It tried to destroy Korea's cultural heritage but at some point, the empire propagandists tried to represent Korea as some kind of sister nation to Japan. Representing that the two were part of a superior and special race that was above others. In this regard, one could think of similarities with Hitler's regime in Germany. But the development of this cultural aspect is more interesting as it even prevailed after Japan was expelled from the peninsula; something that has been shown by officials records from the times of the two Koreas.

Propaganda from the short-lived Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the regime that controlled the north of the peninsula from 1948 to 1950.​

Regarding the economy, japanese companies took control of most of the factories in Korea. While the smallest ones were kept in hands of the ethnic koreans, the most profitable ones were owned by the japanese. The arable land wasn't totally taken by japanese but most of the landowners were pro-japanese, giving the Empire more control over the production something that was seen as necessary by the government in Tokyo. After all, they wanted Korea to serve their own demands for rice and eventually; other resources.

When Japan chose to pursue a policy of aggression against China, military factories were built all over the peninsula as the government thought it would make supply easier. This shows that Japan laid some basic foundations for the eventual korean success, however, we can't forget that Japan committed atrocities during the occupation of Korea.
Even if the economy was developing, thousands of koreans were left starving and many families were forced to send their children towards factories to attempt to improve their life or even brothels. Life was a challenge for the average korean and only those totally loyal to Japan were the ones able to harvest the benefits.

The Second World War brought some of the worst events to the peninsula. There were some koreans fighting for the Imperial Japanese Army, however, the National Mobilization Law basically resulted in a conscription of workers for the factories and mines of the empire due to the labor shortage caused by japanese-male conscription for the military efforts. There were thousands of koreans taken to the japanese islands in order to work with appalling and dangerous conditions.
Apparently, those korean workers were treated better than the forced labor workers from other countries, but their conditions were still awful.

All in all, some people argue that the japanese occupation brought benefits to Korea even if atrocities took place. I do not agree with that line of thought.
Yes, Japan developed Korea, built infrastructure, factories, schools and tried to actively improve the people's literacy. But it was all done in order to benefit Japan, not the koreans themselves.
Japan actively tried to raze the cultural heritage of the country, they used forced labor and created the horrible system of comfort women, they sent koreans towards their death at hands of the grotesque Unit 731 and severely divided the korean people and turned them on each other.

It's evident that the progress forced by Japan upon the peninsula wasn't worth it, after all, had Korea remained independent they would surely avoided all of those horrors.
We must remember this chapter, the deepest scar for Korea and honor the memory of those who actively fought against japanese domination.
Those heroes from the March 1st Movement in 1919 and all the people that tried to free the peninsula from Japan's grip.

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Naples, Kingdom of Italy. ~ July 7th, 2018.

Park Jin-hee was excited, it was his first time in Italy. Everything was peaceful, police was everywhere and order was heavily respected. But those weren't the things Jin-hee came to see.
Korea was at the quarter-final of the World Cup, he as many other soccer fans that came from Korea were nervous and the reason was: Keisuke Honda, member of the japanese team and by far the top scorer with 5 goals.

Korea had narrowly passed to the quarter-final after winning against Argentina (2-1) in the last minutes, the favourite of that game was Argentina and many people was surprised when Korea managed to get two goals at the last ten minutes. It was impressive, the mood was so joyous among the koreans fans, they hadn't passed to quarter-final since the 2006 World Cup hosted by Korea, the Republic of China and Japan.

"Perhaps this time we'll win the World Cup, Son Heung-min has been quite good and his last goals against Argentina were totally the miracle of the year." ~ he said before grabbing his beer.

"Well, he has shown his talent in the field but I'm wondering if he'll be able to stand against Honda, after all he was the one responsible for getting the defending champion out of the World Cup." ~ said one of his friends.

"Oh, don't bring up that. Japan only won because Vela was so blind he scored against his own team." ~ Jin-hee started to chuckle after saying that and seeing his friend's reaction.

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I feel that today's update is shorter than the past one and I apologize, my ideas were a bit...floating here and there. But, anyways, we are going now for the last prologue part and then actual gameplay will start.
^^ Hope you enjoy it.

 

[stnylan]

Through the war.

Football is better than war.

 

[RV-Ye]

Through the war.

Football is better than war.

What do you think about the update?

After the mention regarding the world cup in a previous post I tried my best to deliver a little hint of how's everything in this timeline 2018. ^^
(Sheesh, had to read something about how it works as I've never seen it tbh)

 

[stnylan]

What do you think about the update?

It's fine The odd hint here and there about the world, so really waiting to see how that develops.

 

[RV-Ye]

Prologue: An opportunity for the Han people. (Part IV)
"It is indeed regrettable that there was an unfortunate past between us for a period in this century and I believe that it should not be repeated again." - Japanese emperor Hirohito to south korean president Chun Doo-hwan. (1984)
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Pyongyang, Republic of Korea. ~ October 6th, 2018.

"Well, at least I'm close to finishing this project, the first chapters were quite boring. I swear the next time I'm asking Kang-ho for help. Can't believe he already finished this, I mean, I do believe it but I'm so impressed." ~ Se-yeon thought.

She was working at full speed investing every minute on her project. After all, if she didn't and her grades went down she would not be able to travel to Saigon along her friends. There was some kind of journey planned, they've wanted to visit Vietnam since their favourite boygroup said it was such a nice place. And that was the reason behind her effort invested in this project, if she did an amazing job then her parents would even pay her the concert that was going to take place in Taipei as well.

But reading about Korea's past, discovering the huge challenges the peninsula went through and even the conflicts she had to fight against her neighbours (and even countries that weren't near her) made her reflex about everything. After all, she was sure life would be quite different if one small thing had gone totally wrong in the country's past.
She felt it was completely normal to think about those things, after all, past was just a coincidence or at least that was her perspective about it.

"Eonnie, which country is that one?" ~ Min-seo pointed towards the flag of the short-lived Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea's flag, it's illegal in the Republic of Korea unless there are educational purposes behind it. (National Security Act suggests avoiding it if possible)​

Suddenly, Se-yeon remembered what she had read about Germany. Both countries had some similar laws after all, the flag of Hitler's regime was illegal over there unless it was used for educational purposes. It was the same in the Republic of Korea regarding the propaganda or stuff about Kim Il Sung's regime. After all, the National Security Act was still in place much to the disagreement of the United Nations or some people in the peninsula; however, many thought it was an essential part of Korea and that taking it away was going to create issues all over the country.

Thinking about the DPRK always made her think how her life would be if the communists had won or if the peninsula was kept divided. "Well, if Germany was able to reunify I don't think Korea would be the exception. After all, our common history is quite longer than the german one, we would eventually overcome our differences and rejoin peacefully. But, would we be like the Worker's Republic of China had Kim Il Sung won back in 1950?" ~ she usually avoided thinking about it, she thought that speculating about history was just another way to lose time.

She quickly started typing once again, ideas were flowing and she had to finish soon.
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Modern History: Korea. - Wade Barnett.
​

Previously I talked about how the Korean Empire tried to modernize in order to survive the changing times back at the start of the 20th Century, I mentioned the plots and schemes that Japan used in order to achieve their goal in the peninsula and eventually the actions they committed once Korea was under their influence. Dear reader, at this moment, you have noticed that Korea's journey through the 20th Century wasn't exactly a honeymoon, Korea went through the darkest time of her story but we haven't arrived to the beginning of the golden times yet. After all, there were enough hardships before the situation began to improve.

Since the Cairo Conference of 1943, the Allies had begun to plan what would happen to Japan after their eventual defeat. Chiang Kai Shek, leader of the Republic of China insisted that the chinese territories occupied by Japan had to be return to the chinese government. The Allies agreed on that, but they couldn't agree on the course of action regarding the korean peninsula.
They knew that the korean people had suffered under the japanese regime, however, they had no idea about what would be the future; they agreed that Korea had to regain independence but there wasn't a clear way to achieve it.

Picture taken at the Cairo Conference, 1943.​

During Japan's downfall in 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on August 8th and rapidly advanced against Manchuria, Korea and to the southern part of Sakhalin in order to expel the japanese troops before the empire surrendered. When news arrived about it, the american government got anxious about a possible soviet occupation of the whole peninsula and so, on August 10th, officers Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel were assigned to define an american occupation zone. Their decision was to divide the peninsula at the 38th parallel, they chose it because it left Seoul (the capital) under the american administration.

To the surprise of the americans, the Soviet Union quickly accepted the division of the peninsula. Amphibious landings and the advance of the Red Army led to the soviet occupation of Pyongyang in August 24th, 1945. Their zone was secured, while in the south, Governor-General Abe Nobuyuki established contact with several influential koreans since the start of the month in order to prepare the hand-over of power. The koreans organized people's committee branches for the "Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence" headed by Lyuh Woon-hyung, a left-wing politician.
On September, the committee was convened at Seoul and proclaimed the short-lived People's Republic of Korea.

After the Moscow Conference that took place in December of 1945, the Allies agreed that the Soviet Union, United States, United Kingdom and the Republic of China would take part in a trusteeship over Korea for up to five years in the lead-up to independence. The koreans were angered by this action and they demanded immediate independence seeing the decisions of the Allies as further meddling in the korean affairs; however, only the Korean Communist Party which was quite close to Moscow, agreed and supported the trusteeship.

The increasing antagonism of the Cold War, the korean opposition towards the trusteeship, the different occupation policy employed by both countries (United States and the Soviet Union) along the transfers of population made the work of the Soviet-US Joint Commission quite impossible. At the final meeting on 1947, soviet delegate Terentii Shtykov proposed that both countries should withdraw their forces in order to allow the koreans to form their own government. Nonetheless, America declined it.

Division of the Korean peninsula by the 38th Parallel.​

Soviet Occupation of North Korea.​

The soviets basically worked with the people's committees that were formed in August of 1945. Eventually, Colonel-General Terentii Shtykov formed a Soviet Civil Administration, taking control of all those committees and placing communists at the top positions making them loyal to Moscow.
At the start, those committees were allowed by the Red Army as they were friendly to the Soviet Union, but Terentii Shtykov decision was basically a stab in the back for those koreans that trusted the soviets.

On February 1946, the Provisional People's Committee was formed under Kim Il Sung, who had spent years of the war training with the soviet troops in Manchuria, After that, he started a land-reform, he divided and distributed the land belonging to the japanese or the collaborator landowners; this benefited the poor farmers. Many people fled to the south but it's also interesting to remember that this was a land reform whose means were achieved with less blood-spilling than in other countries.

The key industries were nationalized, however, the economic situation was as tough in the north as in the south. The reason behind this was the way Japan managed the peninsula, agriculture was concentrated on the south while heavy industry on the north. Several reforms took place in North Korea and eventually the Workers' Party of Korea was formed, led by Kim Il Sung.

Kim Il Sung, leader of the short-lived Democratic People's Republic of Korea. (1948-1950)​

American Occupation of South Korea.​

While the soviets tried to reform their half of the peninsula, the americans acted in just a different way. This period was plagued by political and economic chaos, the main reasons behind it were; the american stance regarding the left-wing movements in their part of Korea, the US Military Government's support of the former japanese colonial administration along the influence of japanese governors as advisors, the disbanding of the People's Republic of Korea, the support towards the UN elections that divided the country and the tough economic situation.

One issue the americans did wrong was not recognizing the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea led by Kim Ku, but the worst mistake was outlawing the People's Republic of Korea just because they were feared of their left-wing influences. However, another huge mistake was the one made in September 9th when Lt. General Hodges announced that the japanese colonial administration would remain in place. It caused major outcry and he eventually chose to replace the japanese, but he kept them as advisors angering the korean population and creating more discontent.

One of the first moves the american administration did was the reopening of the schools, that was at least a good step on the right direction even if the educational system was still the one implemented by Japan. However, the close relationship between the american occupiers and the japanese or their collaborators made the situation quite complex. The popular perspective was that the americans were only keeping in power those who worked for Japan, that they weren't better that their previous colonial master.
We must also understand, the americans had no idea about how to run Korea and they had almost no knowledge about it so the power vacuum eventually led to the necessity of having people familiar with the peninsula in order to preserve the order and those were collaborators or japanese.

The economy didn't improve during this period and the situation kept unstable with the thousands of refugees coming from the north. The people's anger eventually led to violent uprisings and the only answer the Occupation Authority found was crushing them before things could turn worse. Soon, strikes were banned, the people's committees were outlawed and martial law was declared.

Syngman Rhee, the american choice, first president of the Republic of Korea.​

The last step.​

1948 was an important year, elections were going to take place in both halves of the peninsula, however, the Soviet Union opposed it as they thought that the UN couldn't guarantee fair elections. Without the soviet cooperation it was decided that UN-supervised elections would take place only in the southern part of Korea. This was quite unpopular for the koreans as they knew that it would only lead to the permanent division of their country and soon general strikes started and an uprising at Jeju island did too.

Eventually, on May 10th of 1948, the general election was held on South Korea. It took place amid widespread violence and intimidation, as well as the boycott of opponents of Syngman Rhee (America's chosen man for Korea) but it did not stopped the process.
On August 15th, the Republic of Korea formally took power with Syngman Rhee as his president.
September 9th saw the birth of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, led by Kim Il Sung.

The United Nations General Assembly considered Rhee's government as the only legitimate one in the peninsula, however, the unrest continued in the south and it even sparked up again during the Korean War. This is how Korea got freed and then oppressed by the ones who fought their colonial masters, eventually it was divided and only through blood would it unite again.

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Pyongyang, Republic of Korea. ~ October 6th, 2018.

"Well, I bet I'll pass with this work. It's quite good." ~ Se-yeon thought.

She had been writing for hours, her fingers and hands were almost crumbling to dust, her eyes were quite tired but at least her spirit was joyous. She had finished finally, well, it was only the first part of the project but it would get easier with time. Or that's what she thought about it.

"It's curious, I didn't know that americans were so awful during their occupation. At least they compensated our country as the time passed, they have been so loyal and friendly towards us, even when stuff could have gone so wrong." ~ she couldn't stop thinking about it, after all, United States was the one responsible for the Korean Reunification, their aid was decisive during the Korean War.

American and Korean soldiers after the annual war-games, the Worker's Republic of China released a statement calling them "imperialist provocations".​

Se-yeon closed her books, turned off the computer and walked away from the desk. She was sleepy and a nap was the only choice she had at the moment, she left with a smile on her face and thinking: "Yeah, Saigon, wait for me."

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Well, that's the last prologue part, next update will be actual gameplay starting at 1950...yeah, I know there's a small two year gap I should cover....but I don't think we need to do so.
I'll only mention the chinese civil war outcome, the division of Germany and some other things I may forget.

I hope the views I'm getting that never comment are enjoying this.
I'm trying my best with this.
^^

 

[stnylan]

So we are all set for the war.

 

[Vlad_Dracul1989]

Democracy...is non-negotiable.

Destroy all Communists!

 

[RV-Ye]

First of all, I want to thank for your support and now...
I've been editing files and files of NWO (well, not that much tbh) but I'm going to show you something I created in my testing version of Kaiserreich. (Yeah, I usually test my events or other additions in there, Idk why...)

As you may notice in previous posts, there was a mention about the Republic of Hong Kong...well, here's my first attempt at creating a new nation and here we have it, the Republic of Macao.

So we are all set for the war.

Indeed, I'm getting my last preparations ready. As I don't want to edit the save file once the game starts, it may get messy if I do. But eventually as I play ideas will come so, I'll be prepared.
Now just give me time to actually open the game haha, all this updates kept me reading and reading but I thought they were required in order to understand the point were we'll start.

Democracy...is non-negotiable.

Destroy all Communists!

Well, let's call her "democracy". Our dear president isn't a great friend towards democracy.
But indeed, those communists shall get smashed and removed, let's save the peninsula!

 

[RV-Ye]

Chapter I: The Red March through Asia. (Part I)
"All reactionaries are paper tigers." - Mao Zedong, founding father of the People's Republic of China.
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Gyeongmudae, Seoul, Republic of Korea. ~ January 21st, 1950.

President Rhee was sitting at his office in the Gyeongmudae, it used to be the residence of the japanese governor-general, however, it was now his. There were several reports lying over the table, ranging from the economic situation to the army positions. All had been relatively quiet over South Korea but Syngman Rhee was quite worried.
The reason behind his fear was the People's Republic of China, Mao Zedong had won the struggle against the nationalist forces of Chiang Kai Shek; the Kuomintang was now at Taiwan, licking their wounds and trying to stabilize the small island.

Current ministers at the Republic of Korea, recently Syngman Rhee announced his intentions towards getting a hawkier stance in foreign issues. Notice that currently South Korea can't be called a pure democracy.
​

Kim Chang-sook sent his first report, mainly regarding the situation of the economy and some projects that were taking place in the country. South Korea was mainly an agrarian country, but at least there were some factories left from the Gwangmu period and the japanese occupation.
Rhee's main priority wasn't the economy, he cared more about his own position and avoiding a communist uprising in his own country, development wasn't important; or so he thought.

South Korea has a small industrial base compared to the north as the japanese placed the heavy industries at the mineral-rich north of the peninsula.
​

"At least everything seems to be fine. Specially as the army is getting what it needs. It would be better if americans give us what we asked for, there's no way we can hold an attack from the north; soviets, chinese, other koreans. Our country is at danger but they can't understand it." ~ Syngman Rhee thought.
He was angry at the United States for not giving him enough support, they had all their forces at Japan acting as if a broken country would suddenly return to their militaristic ways.

The real threat was at the 38th Parallel and Syngman Rhee along the korean officers knew it. It was strange but Kyungsung Precision Industried along Samsung were focusing on trying to develop the industrial capacity of South Korea. President Rhee wished those investments, both in time and money, were spent on military research; after all, the north was preparing itself to "free" the south.
"If americans gave me the support, I could unite the peninsula before Kim Il Sung decides to attack us, it's only a matter of when not if." ~ Syngman Rhee thought.

Fifteen divisions organized in six armies. Syngman Rhee along the Chief of Staff decided to keep most of the army at Busan in order to protect the most important harbor, however several generals insist that Seoul must be reinforced in case of a North Korean attack.
​

"They must understand, Seoul is an easy prey. If we deploy must of our army here, the North Koreans along their soviet allies will be able to encircle us, endangering our eventual retreat. We could do more if the americans were willing to give us the weapons we need along advisors and even troops." ~ he couldn't stop blaming americans for his fragile position.
South Korea was evidently under risk, if the North Koreans attacked it was going to be a race against time. Would America come to their aid? Would the chinese and soviets join the fight too?

Syngman Rhee was still reading those reports, but suddenly the aide came once again. He looked worried, those couldn't be good news. After all, he was the one who delivered the news about the nationalist collapse in China as well. Rhee started to get worried too.
"President, Kim Il Sung government issued an statement, he insists that our regime must surrender, accept to unite with theirs and we'll be pardoned if we leave the peninsula." ~ said nervously the aide.

North Korea's leader insists on a peaceful unification of the peninsula led by his regime, meanwhile, France decides to keep fighting alone at Indochina without asking for aid. French Pride.
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Gyeongmudae, Seoul, Republic of Korea. ~ May 25th, 1950.

President Rhee was thinking about the several events that took place since the start of the year. There were positive things, not for his country but at least they were positive for other ones.
The first of those was the Republic of China's land reform, started on March, Chiang Kai Shek took the land from the japanese landowners and the native population of Taiwan; while it caused resentment from the native population it gave him huge support from the people.
"At least he is the top authority over his country, if I move against the japanese and their former collaborators I'll have soon a communist uprising. I'm sure of that" ~ he thought.

The Land Reform that took place in the Republic of China was carried out by the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. Many large landowners fled (as they were japanese) while others were compensated with japanese commercial and industrial properties seized back in 1945.​

The land reform at South Korea wasn't as fair as the one that took place in the north, that one achieved the main goals that Kim Il Sung had proposed. But he didn't have to pay political price for that kind of reforms, it gave him more support, if Rhee did the same he was sure that soon the left-wing movements would spark chaos once again in order to unite with the northern regime. That was not an option, not at all. He appreciated the american support but sometimes, he thought that americans cared more about the Republic of China or Japan; those countries were safe from communism, Korea wasn't and that was a reason to be angry at Washington.

Syngman Rhee didn't know the several issues plaguing both Chinas, the mainland was getting opposition as the situation wasn't improving at a fast rate, as people seemed to desire. While Taiwan was having issues of it's own with the native population, Chiang Kai Shek chose to imprison and persecute the social elite, the intellectuals and those members of the Formosan League for Reemancipation; his main goal was cutting the head of the communist hydra before trying to develop the country.
White Terror and Red Terror, both of them were spreading through both Chinas.

Criticism against Mao started back in April, while Taiwan's white terror begun back in 1947.
​

He read that France was trying to forge closer relations among the Western and Capitalist countries of Europe, something regarding a declaration made by minister Schuman. That wasn't as important as the news that arrived from Southeast Asia in May 20th, 1950. Those news took everyone by surprise and eventually gave the reason to Syngman Rhee; the communists were on the march, they wouldn't stop until Seoul, Tokyo, Bangkok, Taipei and even Washington were red as well.
The whole world was shocked when the French Republic eventually left Vietnam, that day Syngman Rhee was taken by surprise.

The situation turned chaotic in Vietnam, rumours said that several uprisings at Saigon led to the fall of the city back in May 12th, 1950. The whole world was surprised that vietnamese guerrilla fighters were able to expel the french forces.
​

"This must be the last straw, they are coming for us and that's quite obvious." ~ Syngman Rhee thought. After all, earlier he had received a report from the frontline generals. Several north korean troops were realizing movements, similar to war games and each day more tanks could be seen.
War was going to take place soon and everyone knew it, everyone but America. The United States were still acting as if the situation wasn't dangerous enough.
"We must receive support soon or the reds are going to throw us out off Busan even if we, by a miracle, achieve to arrive there."

Syngman Rhee ordered the mobilization of the army, the conscription of everyone who could handle a weapon and the preparation of defenses; soon trenches started to appear through the southern part of the peninsula, mines were placed at important roads and explosives were prepared at the Han river's bridge.
North Korea would attack, but the South was going to fight Syngman Rhee knew they wouldn't be able to survive the main assault but he had hope that establishing a defensive line at Busan would work until americans sent aid...if, they sent help.

The North Korean Army started war games, Kim Il Sung's statements were more belligerent than the previous ones; it was evident. The Korean War would be real and unless America chose to wake up, the South would collapse.
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Modern History: Korea. - Wade Barnett.
​

The tensions at Korea intensified after Kim Il Sung's failed demand towards president Syngman Rhee back at the start of 1950. He insisted on having a peaceful unification but he basically demanded Rhee's exile. The situation was quite complex but when the vietnamese communists were able to win the First Indochina War it turned evident that North Korea would get soviet and chinese aid if they wanted to retake the south.
There was a huge contrast between the well-equipped and numerous army of North Korea and the unprepared Republic of Korea Army, the political establishment wasn't able to convince the american adminsitrators of the reality of the threat until it was too late.

American military presence in Korea was practically non-existent. The garrisons and troops were at Japan, mantaining order and the Army denied the south korean requests for advanced weaponry and troop deployment.
Slowly, reinforcements were sent from United States towards Japan, in case of a soviet offensive against the home island. Syngman Rhee insisted on having some of those troops at Korea but his petition was denied, claiming that they couldn't risk a war against the Soviet Union and China over his paranoia.
But it wasn't paranoia, americans were distracted or they simply didn't care about their compromise with South Korea but soon it became real; soon the war came back to haunt the United States.

On June 25th, 1950, the Korean War started. United States was taken by surprise, however, South Korea had warned about this since the fall of Vietnam but her warnings fell on deaf ears.
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Well first::
A) Thanks to @Ericafaq for giving me an amazing skin for this game.
B) You can bet I was quite surprised when 'Nam fell to the reds...really, I was like... :O "WHAAA-?"

I feel it was a short update but I wanted to stop it there, as I'll need my full attention to fight this war.
Also, I'll try to write in several styles.

You can be sure that our previous characters will return (Se-yeon, Jin-hee) I just need to organize my ideas and how will I continue writing.
If you like the narrations from Syngman Rhee's perspective tell me, if you don't...well, tell me too so I can improve them or change them totally!

I hope you enjoyed it!