* Prehistoric Korea    Archeologists believe that people have been living on the Korean peninsula for about half a    million years. Stone chopping tools and hand axes have been found in archeological digs in    central Korea. Pieces of old pottery decorated with a comb pattern have been found at    riverside and coastal sites around the country. Archeologists believe these were made    around 6,000 or 7,000 years ago by people who lived by fishing, hunting, and gathering    wild fruits and greens. Farming, including the planting of rice in the warmer southern    regions, started in the Bronze Age, around 3,500 years ago. * Gojoseon    Gojoseon is the name of the kingdom many people believe that Tan'gun, the son of a god    and a woman bear, founded. Historians think it was a walled town kingdom located near    Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea today. The rulers of this kingdom may have used    the Tan'gun legend to make themselves seem more powerful and important to their people.    We cannot be sure how the people of Old Joseon lived. They probably used iron tools and    weapons and may have lived in pit dwellings. * Three kingdoms Period and Koryo Dynasty    The tribal communities of Gojoseon gave way to three new kingdoms : Koguryo, Paekche,    and Shilla. Shilla was founded in 57 B.C., Koguryo in 37 B.C. and Paekche in 18 B.C. A    fourth kingdom, Kaya, was founded in 42 A.D. These kingdoms were related in language    and culture but ruled separately. Sometimes one or more united against the Chinese. At    other times one Korean kingdom asked for Chinese support against another Korean    kingdom.    In the 7th century, Shilla conquered the other kingdoms to form the first unified state on    the Korean peninsula. The Unified Shilla period was rich in culture and art. Many beautiful    Buddhist temples and shrines were built. Sokkuram Buddhist Grotto is an architectural    masterpiece from this time. The Shilla ruling class began to fight among themselves ,    however, and in 918 Wang Kon, a rebel leader, founded the Koryo Kingdom. The modern    name Korea comes from Koryo. A new system of laws and government, modeled after    China's was established, and Buddhism, which had come to Korea from China in 372, was    made the official religion. Koryo's Buddhist sculptures are still famous today. Movable    metal print was invented in 1234, 200 years before it was used in Europe.    The Koryo Kingdom had many problems with foreign invaders from the north. In the 13th    century, the Mongols invaded several time. The kingdom fell later in the 14th century when    there were arguments among the Koryo elite about land and religion. Japanese pirates also    weakened the kingdom which was taken over by the Joseon Dynasty in 1392. * Joseon Dynasty    The Joseon Dynasty, the Yi family, governed from 1392 to 1910. In the early 15C, the    Great King Sejong ordered government scholars to develop a new phonetic writing system    that could be used by the common people. The kings who came after King Sejong tried    many reforms, but fighting among members of the ruling elite was common. In the late 16C,    the Japanese attacked Korea. After the Japanese invasions, Korean society changed. The    scholar-official elite declined as merchants and traders became more important. The late    Joseon period brought more struggles between members of the elite and royal families.    And foreign traders from Japan and the West came to Korea and asked to deal. Meanwhile    Japan was growing stronger during this period. In 1895 it defeated China in the Sino-    Japanese War, and in 1905 it defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War to become the    main military power in Northeast Asia. It was only a matter of time before the Japanese    turned to Korea again. In 1910 Korea was annexed to Japan. This made Korea a Japanese    colony, which was governed according to Japanese laws and customs. * Postwar Period    Korea was freed from Japanese rule on August 15, 1945, but the country was officially    divided into two separate states, North and South, just ten days later. The United States    accepted the surrender of Japanese forces south of the 38th parallel and the Soviet Union    was responsible north of that line. The newly formed United Nations called for general    elections on both sides of the parallel in 1947 but the northern half refused. A communist    government called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was established in    the north. The U.S. military government handed over its authority to the Republic of Korea    government and withdrew its occupation forces in 1948, leaving only a small group of    military advisors.    On June 25, 1950, North Korea invaded the South. The United Nations sent armed forces    and other assistance to help the South Korean military. The three-year war caused terrible    damage before it ended in a cease-fire in 1953. Since then, the Korean peninsula has been    governed by the Republic of Korea in the south and the Democratic People's Republic of    Korea in the north.