The Aftermath

Abstract

The Korean people, little favoured by their geographical situation, have too often been forced to live in anticipation of war, with war itself, and in the fearful desolation of its aftermath. Throughout history the great powers of the time, with overweening imperial ambition and scant regard for indigenous communities, have contested the Korean peninsula, much as many other accessible states throughout the world have been trampled by giants. For the last 40 years, Korea, in the shape of two increasingly sovereign states, has managed to build a measure of independence; though half the peninsula still harbours a substantial foreign military presence, and national sovereignty per se is never a sufficient guarantee of domestic human rights. Today the two Koreas, like all states, are shaped by history and the current strategic perceptions of external powers.