After the Korean war ended in 1953, a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) was created to separate North Korea and South Korea. A ceasefire was signed, but the two nations never signed an actual peace treaty, so they are technically still at war today. As a result, the decades since the war have been tense, and the countries have thwarted actual war activities through negotiation and small skirmishes that keep the world on edge in regard to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Included in Korean tensions are the tensions of other world powers allied with each country, as Russia and China have long supported North Korea’s interests, while the United States and United Nations have supported the more democratic South Korea (Lavelle). Throughout negotiations, nuclear power and weaponry have been a topic of great concern, and diplomacy has become tantamount to the prevention of a global nuclear war. However, historically and presently, diplomacy is only moderately effective, and the DMZ serves as a constant representation of the continued conflict between the nations.

Peace lasted for a number of years after the ceasefire, but in 1966 both countries sent their troops to the DMZ to fight. In 1968, North Korea tried to murder the president of South Korea, Park Chung-Hee, but South Korean troops were able to stop it. They tried and failed again in 1974, but Chung-Hee’s wife was killed during the attempt. South Korea remained mostly committed to the ceasefire, but North Korea did not. In 1996, North Korea announced that it would no longer adhere to the ceasefire signed in 1953. They engaged in a sea war in 1999 and again in 2002, but an extended war never started due to diplomacy between the larger nations supporting North Korea and South Korea (Lavelle).

A major call for peace occurred in 2007, when South Korea’s president Roh Moo-hyun crossed the DMZ to talk with then leader of North Korea Kim Jong-il. They spoke of peace but were unable to get a treaty signed. Since then, both sides of Korea have exchanged fire both on land and on the sea. They play loud propaganda over loudspeakers across the DMZ (Lavelle). Multiple times, they have negotiated a reduction in tensions, but it repeatedly reignites.

More recently, Koreans have been united through the Winter Olympics when both countries walked under one flag and sent representatives from each country to participate in the ceremonies (Grzelczyk). In the spring of 2018, the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un, crossed the border into South Korea to meet with its President Moon Jae-in. This is the first time that North Korea has crossed into South Korea with the motive of peace, and this meeting was a gesture that symbolized North Korea’s desire for a resolution with South Korea and the United States. The leaders crossed back into North Korea together, and it seemed that peace was suddenly in the near future for Koreans (Fifield).

In May, however, a summit with North Korea and the United States scheduled for the following month was cancelled by U.S. President Trump. Trump blamed hateful rhetoric for his cancellation, and the decision has heightened tensions between North Korea and South Korea, again. Advisors say that North Korea may have been open to negotiations only to remove sanctions and keep their nuclear weapons, and the summit needed to be cancelled until North Korea was truly willing to let go of all of their nuclear weaponry. In any case, the refueled conflict between the North and the South Korean countries could mean increased tensions between China and the United States, two countries allied with opposing Koreas (Landler and Sullivan).