Shortly after the flames of WWII were extinguished, the Korean peninsula was immediately thrust into civil war. Symbolized at the divide at the 38th parallel, the two countries have faced ongoing conflict since 1945.
Below is an extensive history of the conflict, including key events that continue to have an impact on the country today.
Bo-an-dae, the local bodies in charge of law and order were officially placed under the Five Provisional Administration Beureau. Most North Korean organizations dedicated to internal security celebrate this date as their founding anniversary (North Korean Police State, 89).
The Committee takes over the administrative bureaus, including the Protection and Security Bureau and the forerunner to the State Security Department (SSD). It immediately sets out to “rid the country of Japanese imperialism (Songbun, 90).
The North Korean Provisional People's Committees (NKPPC) purges all government administrators who were in place at the time of liberation under the NKPCC decree Classification of Pro-Japan and Anti-Korean Elements.
North Korea invades the South, starting the Korean War. The UN Security Council unanimously condemns the invasion in UNSC Resolution 82 (the Soviet Union boycotted the meeting to protest the representation of the Republic of China/Taiwan instead of the People's Republic of China).
The Korean Workers Party Military Committee issues an order to North Korean forces to abduct Southern political, economic, and socially prominent figures, reeducate them, and strengthen the military front line with them. An estimated 82,959 South Koreans were abducted.
The Political Security Bureau was reorganized and replaced by the new Ministry of Public Security. The Ministry is headed by Pang Hak-se, will become known as the "North Korean Lavrentiy Beria" or "founder of the North Korea security police". An unknown number of North Korean citizens are rounded up by the Bureau and executed or incarcerated during the war (The North Korea Police State, 100).
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