Korea: The Hundred Year War
In 2018, for the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953, Donald Trump, president of the United States and Kim Jong Un, leader of North Korea, met. Supported by South Korea, they pledged to open a new era of peace. In the fall of 2017, Washington and Pyongyang were still threatening each other with nuclear strikes, to the point of worrying China, Russia, Japan and the rest of the world. What happened then? The “maximum pressure” imposed by the United-States paid out? Is it conceivable to end 70 years of airtight division of Korean people, divided it in 2 different countries, with 2 different names, with 2 incompatibles flags, with 2 opposing societies? To answer these questions, we must dive deep into the history of the Korean Peninsula, a place of confrontation of the great powers for more than 100 years.