title: Docklands Light Railway

text: For this upgrade DLR purchased an additional 31 cars compatible with existing rolling stock. The works were originally planned as three phases: Bank-Lewisham, Poplar-Stratford, and the Beckton branch. The original £200m contract was awarded on 3 May 2007. Work started in 2007 and Bank-Lewisham was originally due to be completed in 2009. However, the work programme for the first two phases was merged and the infrastructure work was completed by the end of January 2010. The Lewisham-Bank route now runs three-car trains exclusively. They started running on the Beckton branch on 9 May 2011. Stratford to Lewisham and Bank to Woolwich Arsenal services sometimes operate as three-car trains; other routes run the longer trains when required.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In addition to the three-car station extensions, partly funded from the 2012 Olympics budget, a line was opened from Canning Town to Stratford and Stratford International railway station along the former North London Line of the national railway system, with additional stations. It parallels the London Underground Jubilee line for much of its length.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The extension to Stratford International, taking over the North London Line from Canning Town to Stratford, links the Docklands area with domestic high-speed services on High Speed 1. It was an important part of transport improvements for the 2012 Olympic Games, much of which were held on a site adjoining Stratford International.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The first contract for construction work was awarded on 10 January 2007 and construction started in mid-2007. Originally scheduled to open in mid-2010, the line opened on 31 August 2011. On 11 November 2015 the Mayor of London announced that all stations on this line would be rezoned from zone 3 to zone 2/3.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: New stations were , , , , and Stratford International. Of these, Canning Town, West Ham and Stratford are former North London Line stations, and Stratford High Street was built on the site of railway station.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: From Canning Town to Stratford the extension runs parallel to the Jubilee line of the London Underground. As well as providing interchange with the adjacent Jubilee line stations, there are additional DLR stations at Star Lane, Abbey Road and Stratford High Street.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: At Stratford new platforms were built for the North London Line at the northern end of the station. The old platforms (formerly 1 and 2) adjacent to the Jubilee line were rebuilt for the DLR, renumbered 16 (towards Stratford International) and 17 (towards Beckton/Woolwich Arsenal). Interchange between the Stratford International branch and DLR trains via Poplar is possible although the platforms are widely separated and at different levels. There is no physical connection between the two branches.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: One of the tunnel portals for Crossrail is on the original site of Pudding Mill Lane station. As a consequence, work was carried out to divert the DLR between City Mill River and the River Lea onto a new viaduct further south. This included a replacement station, which opened on 28 April 2014. The former station stood on the only significant section of single track on the system, between Bow Church and Stratford. The opportunity was taken to double the track in three stages, to improve capacity. There was originally no provision for works beyond the realigned section in the Crossrail Act.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The DLR has of tracks, with 45 stations. There are six branches: to Lewisham in the south, and Stratford International in the north, and Woolwich Arsenal in the east, and Central London in the west, splitting to and .


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The northern, southern and south-eastern branches terminate at the National Rail stations at Stratford, Stratford International, Lewisham and Woolwich Arsenal. Other interchanges with National Rail are at Limehouse, Greenwich and West Ham, while out-of-station interchanges for Oyster card holders are available between Shadwell DLR station and London Overground's station of the same name, and between Fenchurch Street and the DLR's western termini of Tower Gateway and Bank.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: With four platforms and separated tracks at Canning Town and Poplar where the lines intersect, the network could theoretically support three discrete routes to maximise tph, although in practice the automated running of trains and turnaround capacities at each terminus supports the mix of routes available, with all sections of track bar part of the Bank-bound junction at West India Quay seeing regular use.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: At peak times, these same services run, but with the frequency improved by 25% (6tph becomes 7.5tph, 12tph becomes 15tph). Additionally, in the morning peak, alternate Stratford - Canary Wharf services extend to/from Lewisham.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: At terminal stations trains reverse direction in the platforms, except at Bank where there is a reversing headshunt in the tunnel beyond the station. During service disruption or planned engineering work, trains can also turn back at and . There is also capability for an additional shuttle from Canning Town to Prince Regent when exhibitions are in progress at the ExCeL exhibition centre, although this is not supported by any additional turnback infrastructure. Trains serve every station on the route, but trains from Bank to Lewisham do not call at West India Quay because they are routed along the diveunder track to avoid junction conflicts. During long-term works for extension projects, other routes may be operated at weekends, such as Beckton to Lewisham if the Bank branch is closed.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The new rolling stock introduced from 2023 will support service improvements, with peak Stratford International - Woolwich Arsenal services increasing to 15tph, peak Stratford - Canary Wharf services extended to Lewisham and a peak Stratford International - Beckton service.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Most stations are elevated, with others at street level, in cutting or underground. Access to the platforms is mostly by staircase and lift, with escalators at some stations. From the outset the system has been fully accessible to wheelchairs; much attention was paid to quick and effective accessibility for all passengers. The stations have high platforms matching the floor height of the cars, allowing level access for passengers with wheelchairs or pushchairs.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Most stations are of a modular design dating back to the initial system, extended and improved with two side platforms, each with separate access from the street, and platform canopies, although few examples remain of the original, distinctive rounded roof design. Stations are unstaffed, except the underground stations at , Stratford International and Woolwich Arsenal for safety reasons, a few of the busier interchange stations , Canning Town, West Ham, and City Airport, which has a ticket office for passengers unfamiliar with the system. Canning Town, Custom House and Prince Regent are normally staffed on the platform whenever there is a significant exhibition at the ExCeL exhibition centre.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: On 3 July 2007, DLR officially launched an art programme called DLR Art, similar to that on the London Underground, Art on the Underground. Alan Williams was appointed to produce the first temporary commission, called "Sidetrack", which portrays the ordinary and extraordinary sights, often unfamiliar to passengers, on the system and was displayed throughout the network.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The system is part of the London fare zone system, and Travelcards that cover the appropriate zones are valid. There are one-day and season DLR-only "Rover" tickets, plus a one-day DLR "Rail and River Rover" ticket for the DLR and City Cruises river boats. Tickets can be purchased from ticket machines at the entrances to platforms, and are required before accessing the platform. Passengers using Oyster pay-as-you-go and contactless bank-cards need to touch both in and out of the system using card readers on automatic gates and platforms. There are no ticket barriers at DLR-only stations: correct ticketing is enforced by random on-train inspections by PSAs. There are barriers at Bank, , Woolwich Arsenal, West Ham and , where the DLR platforms are within a London Underground or National Rail barrier line. Users of payment cards who have failed to touch in at the start of the journey, and other passengers without a correct ticket, may be liable to a £80 penalty fare or prosecution for fare evasion.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The DLR is operated by 149 high-floor bi-directional single-articulated Electric Multiple Units (EMUs). Each car has four double doors on each side, and two or three cars make up a train. There are no cabs because normal operations are automated; a small driver's console is concealed behind a locked panel at each end, from which the PSA can drive the car. Consoles at each door opening allow the PSA to control door closure and make announcements whilst patrolling the train. With the absence of a driver's position, the fully glazed car ends provide a forward and rear view for passengers. The operational top speed is .


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Despite having high floors and being automated, the cars are derived from a German light-rail design intended for street running. All cars look similar but there have been several different types, some still in service, others sold to other operators. Units were purchased from Bombardier in 2005 and delivered between 2007 and 2010.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In 2017, TfL opened bidding for new full-length, walk-through trains, subsequently awarded to CAF in 2019 and expected in service in 2023. Forty-three 5-car trains were ordered, 33 to replace the existing stock and ten to increase service capacity. The design of the train increases internal capacity by 10%, which combined with service improvements will bring about a 65% increase in capacity from Stratford to Lewisham, and a doubling of capacity between Canning Town and Beckton/Woolwich Arsenal. The trains will feature charging points and air-conditioning.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The network has two depots, at Poplar and Beckton. Poplar was opened with the initial line in 1987. Due to the constrained site, a new, larger, depot at Beckton was opened in 1994 and is now the main maintenance depot and primary control centre for the network. Track maintenance, off-peak train stabling, as well as the Operating and Maintenance Centre (OMC for TfL Staff) and the Hilton, Ritz and Dorchester Buildings houses the KeolisAmey Docklands franchise staff and the secondary back-up control centre are based at Poplar.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Originally the DLR used signalling based on a fixed-block technology developed by GEC-General Signal and General Railway Signal. This was replaced in 1994 with a moving-block TBTC (Transmission Based Train Control) system developed by Alcatel, called SelTrac. The SelTrac system was bought by Thales in 2007 and updates are provided by Thales Rail Signalling Solutions. The same technology is used by rapid transit systems including Vancouver's SkyTrain, Toronto's SRT, the San Francisco Municipal Railway and Hong Kong's MTR. The SelTrac S40 system has also been adopted by the London Underground Jubilee line and Northern line. Transmissions occur via an inductive loop cable between each train's Vehicle On-Board Controller (VOBC) and the control centre (VCC, SMC) at Beckton. If this link is broken and communication is lost between the VOBC and VCC, SMC, the train stops until it is authorised to move again. If the whole system fails the train can run in restricted manual at for safety until the system is restored and communication is re-established. Emergency brakes can be applied if the train breaks the speed limit during manual control or overshoots a fixed stopping point, or if it leaves the station when the route has not been set. A secondary control centre is based at Poplar, the location of the original control centre, which can operate immediately should there be any issues with the primary at Beckton.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Initially, DLR was a wholly owned subsidiary of London Regional Transport. In 1992, it was transferred to the London Docklands Development Corporation.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The infrastructure is owned by Docklands Light Railway Ltd, part of the London Rail division of Transport for London (TfL), which also manages London Overground, London Trams, London Cable Car and the Elizabeth line.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: From 1997, DLR has been operated under franchise by the private sector. The first franchise was awarded to Serco Docklands Limited for seven years; operations began in April 1997. A management buyout backed by Serco management later sold its shares to Serco. A two-year extension was granted in 2002. In February 2005 TfL announced that Balfour Beatty/Keolis, First Carillion, RATP/Transdev and Serco had been shortlisted to operate the franchise, and in November 2005 TfL announced that Serco had retained the franchise for seven years from May 2006.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The Lewisham, City Airport and Woolwich Arsenal extensions were designed, financed, built and maintained by private companies (concessionnaires): City Greenwich Lewisham (CGL) Rail, City Airport Rail Enterprises (CARE), and Woolwich Arsenal Rail Enterprises (WARE). In 2011, Transport Trading Limited (a subsidiary of TfL) bought out the companies responsible for the City Airport and Woolwich Arsenal extensions, leaving only the Lewisham extension under private ownership until 31 March 2021.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In July 2012 TfL called for expressions of interest in bidding for the next DLR franchise, and in January 2013 Serco's contract was extended until September 2014.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In April 2013 TfL announced that Go-Ahead/Colas Rail, Keolis/Amey, Serco and Stagecoach had been shortlisted to bid for the next franchise. However, on 30 August, just before the bid submission date of 9 September 2013, Go-Ahead/Colas Rail pulled out. The franchise was awarded to KeolisAmey Docklands Limited, with a handover date of 7 December 2014, expiring in April 2021 with an option for extension without going to tender.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Within a year of launch, annual passenger numbers reached 17 million, increasing to 64 million in 2009, and more than 80 million in 2011. The most recent figures show 116.8 million annual passengers in the financial year to 31 March 2020. The first five years had unreliability and operational problems, but the system has since become highly reliable. Research in 2008 showed 87% of the population of North Woolwich were in favour of the DLR.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The Parliamentary Transport Select Committee favourably reviewed light rail in 2005, and due to the success of the DLR, proposals for similar systems elsewhere emerged. The North and West London Light Railway was a plan for an orbital railway serving the other side of London. The DLR has been successful, as have other recent light rail systems, although it was earlier criticised for having been designed with insufficient capacity to meet the demand that quickly arose.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Until 1 July 2013, the only bicycles that were allowed were folding ones. DLR stated that this is because if evacuation is required, they would slow down the process. DLR cars, especially older rolling stock, were not designed with bicycles in mind – if they were allowed, they might obstruct doors and emergency exits. Since January 2014 full-size bicycles have been allowed on DLR trains at off-peak hours and weekends (except Bank Station, where bicycles are not permitted for safety reasons).


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The key available trends in recent years for the Docklands Light Railway are (years ending 31 March):


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Activities in the financial year 2020/21 were severely reduced by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Mooted throughout the 2010s, an extension across the River Thames to Thamesmead was first proposed in November 2019 as part of the Thamesmead and Abbey Wood OAPF (Opportunity Area Planning Framework). Technical and feasibility work began in late 2020, following adoption of the OAPF. Stations would be located at Beckton Riverside and Thamesmead.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: As part of the construction of the London City Airport extension, a gap in the viaduct due west of the western end of Royal Victoria Dock, between and stations, was passively safeguarded for a future station when development came forward on the brownfield and industrial sites. A station was also initially proposed at Oriental Road; however this was discounted at an early stage and the site is now flanked by several developments. The potential of development on the land at Thames Wharf was on hold for until the late 2010s, as the area was being safeguarded for the route of the Silvertown Tunnel, a new Thames river crossing currently under construction on the site.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: As part of the 2018 budget, the Chancellor announced funding for the DLR to support development in the Royal Docks. Following completion of the Silvertown Tunnel in the mid 2020s, around 5,000 homes will be built on the site, and a new DLR station constructed.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In July 2014, a Transport Supporting Paper from the London Infrastructure Plan 2050 by the Mayor of London considered the closure of Tower Gateway DLR station and the branch serving it, with a replacement interchange being provided via new platforms at Tower Hill Underground station. This would increase train frequencies to Bank by approximately 30 per cent, thereby unlocking more capacity on the Bank branch.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The extension to Dagenham Dock in East London, via the Barking Riverside development was first proposed in 2003, and was anticipated that the project could be completed and open for use by 2017, at a cost of around £750m. In November 2008, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced that due to financial constraints the extension, along with a number of other transport projects, had been cancelled. The Barking Riverside development will now be served by an extension of the London Overground to a new station at Barking Riverside, costing around £260m.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In February 2006 a proposal to extend the DLR to station from DLR branch was revealed. The idea originates from a DLR "Horizon Study".


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: While not confirmed, it is probable that the Charing Cross scheme would use the overrun tunnels between Charing Cross Jubilee platforms and slightly west of . These tunnels were intended to be incorporated into the abandoned Phase 2 of the "Fleet Line" (Phase 1 became the original Jubilee line, prior to the Jubilee line Extension). However they would need enlargement because DLR gauge is larger than tube gauge and current safety regulations would require an emergency walkway in the tunnel.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Two reasons driving the proposal are capacity problems at Bank, having just one interchange between the DLR and the central portion of Underground, and the difficult journeys faced by passengers from Kent and South Coast between their rail termini and the DLR. Intermediate stations would be at City Thameslink/Ludgate Circus and Aldwych, which was intended for future connection with the proposed but now abandoned Cross River Tram.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: In 2011, strategy documents proposed a DLR extension to and . Transport for London have considered driving a line from via north to the rail termini. The main benefit of such an extension would be to broaden the available direct transport links to the Canary Wharf site. It would create a new artery in central London and help relieve the Northern and Circle lines and provide another metro line to serve the High Speed line into Euston.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: This possible extension was considered during the latest Horizon Study. The route would follow the Southeastern line and terminate between and stations. It has been seen as attractive to the district, as has the current terminus at Lewisham, built in an earlier extension. A map published in 2010 by Transport for London suggests that a further extension from Catford to has also been considered.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: However, early plans showed problems due to station being only marginally lower than the busy A20 road, which impedes any extension. The plan is however being revised. When the Lewisham extension was first completed there were proposals to continue further to Beckenham to link it up with the Tramlink system. However, the way in which Lewisham station was built impedes this possible extension and it would prove costly to redevelop.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: Another proposal is to by taking over the Bromley North Line, a short National Rail branch line which has no direct services into Central London. The scheme being considered by Transport for London and the London Borough of Bromley would convert the branch line to DLR operation. Although Lewisham Council planned to re-route the A20 road and redevelop the area south of Lewisham DLR station, the plans published in 2012 have no safeguarded route for an extension, making one unlikely.


title: Docklands Light Railway

text: The DLR appears in the video to Sean Paul and Clean Bandit's single "Rockabye". Poplar, Canary Wharf and Heron Quays stations appear, interspersed with scenes of New York in winter, in the official video for the single "Trains and Winter Rains" by Enya, released in 2008. Shadwell station appears in the music video for the Martin Garrix song "We Are the People", the official song for UEFA Euro 2020.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Freddie Starr (born Frederick Leslie Fowell; 9 January 1943 – 9 May 2019) was an English stand up comedian, impressionist, singer and actor. Starr was the lead singer of Merseybeat rock and roll group the Midniters during the early 1960s, and came to prominence in the early 1970s after appearing on "Opportunity Knocks" and the Royal Variety Performance. In the 1990s, he starred in several television shows, including "Freddie Starr" (1993–1994), "The Freddie Starr Show "(1996–1998) and two episodes of "An Audience with..." in 1996 and 1997. In 1999, he presented the game show "Beat the Crusher".


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr was born in Huyton in the county of Lancashire, England. One of seven children, Starr was the son of a bricklayer, who was often unemployed. According to Starr, his mother Hilda ("née" Feihnen) was from Germany and was Jewish. A twin brother died at birth. When his father, who was also a bare-knuckled boxer, was drunk he repeatedly beat Starr up when he was a young child. In one incident, his father broke both of his son's legs. At the age of six, Starr stopped speaking, and was taken into care. As a result of these experiences, he was teetotal for life. In his 2001 autobiography "Unwrapped", Starr gives speech problems as the reason he spent two years away from home as a child. He attended Sylvester's Primary, and later Huyton Secondary Modern. His father died when Starr was in his early teens.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr was encouraged by his mother to perform from the age of 12 working in clubs and pubs. For five years, he was a member of the Hilda Fallon Roadshow which toured community halls and hospitals.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Under his birth name, he appeared as a teenager in the film "Violent Playground" (1958). In the early 1960s, Starr was the lead singer of the Merseybeat pop group The Midniters (also spelt as Midnighters) which was managed by Brian Epstein. The group recorded three singles, each produced by Joe Meek. The singles all failed to enter the charts. During this period Starr's group performed in Hamburg's nightclubs, around the same time as the Beatles.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Still relatively unknown to television audiences, Starr was "discovered" through the talent show, "Opportunity Knocks" in 1967 where he appeared as part of comedy/beat act Freddie Starr and the Delmonts, winning the popular vote each time over six weeks. He appeared as the second act on the 1970 Royal Variety Performance during which he did comedy impersonations of Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Adam Faith, Billy Fury, Norman Wisdom and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. He was famous for impersonating Adolf Hitler in Wellington boots. During his career, he also impersonated Elvis Presley and Ray Charles. Starr had released a number of albums in his career, one of which yielded a UK Top 10 single, "It's You", in March 1974. Two of his albums charted: "After the Laughter" in 1989 and "The Wanderer" in 1990.


title: Freddie Starr

text: From 1972, he was one of the main performers in the television series "Who Do You Do?" and a regular on the TV panel show "Jokers Wild". A first attempt at his own series, "Ready Freddie Starr" (1974), was reduced to a single special programme because Starr had disputes with the production team at London Weekend Television (LWT). He later starred in his own BBC series in 1976. His wit, wrote Mark Lawson, "relied on broad punchlines and silly slapstick". Stuart Jeffries in his "Guardian" obituary of Starr wrote that his act was "pre-cerebral, unrepentantly sexist, often racist comedy that was rendered overwhelmingly obsolete by the late 1980s".


title: Freddie Starr

text: For 20 years, from 1974, Starr developed an addiction to Valium. The chat show host Michael Parkinson wrote that it "addled his talent and confused his personality", eroding "a virtuosity equalled by only a very few entertainers".


title: Freddie Starr

text: Freddie Starr was the subject of one of the best known British tabloid newspaper headlines. On 13 March 1986 "The Sun" carried as its main headline: "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster". According to the text of the story, Starr had been staying at the home of his friend Vince McCaffrey and his 23-year-old girlfriend Lea La Salle in Birchwood, Cheshire, when the alleged incident took place. Starr was claimed to have returned home from a performance at a Manchester nightclub in the early hours of the morning and demanded that La Salle make him a sandwich. When she refused, he went into the kitchen and put her pet hamster Supersonic between two slices of bread and proceeded to eat it.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr gave his own account of the story in his 2001 autobiography "Unwrapped", stating that the only time that he ever stayed at Vince McCaffrey's house was in 1979, and that the incident was a complete fabrication. Starr writes in the book: "I have never eaten or even nibbled a live hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, mouse, shrew, vole or any other small mammal".


title: Freddie Starr

text: Initially the story had no effect on Starr's career but soon proved beneficial. Tickets for a forthcoming tour had been selling slowly but, after the headline in "The Sun", the publicity led to the addition of 12 dates to his itinerary and is believed to have boosted Starr's fee by one million.


title: Freddie Starr

text: The man behind the hamster story was the British publicist, Max Clifford, at that time Starr's agent, who concocted the story as a practical joke. When asked in a television interview with Esther Rantzen some years later whether Starr really had eaten a hamster, his reply was "Of course not". Clifford was unapologetic, insisting that the story had given a huge boost to Starr's career.


title: Freddie Starr

text: In May 2006, the BBC nominated "Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster" as one of the most familiar British newspaper headlines over the last century.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr's frustration at being linked perpetually to the hamster story was expressed in a newspaper interview, when he commented: "I'm fed up of people shouting out 'Did you eat that hamster, Freddie?' Now I say, give me £1 and I'll tell you. Then if they give me £1, I say 'No' and walk away." Starr says that the story came about after he made an offhand joke about eating a hamster in a sandwich.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr appeared in "Freddie Starr" (1993–94) and "The Freddie Starr Show" (1996–98) made by Central. At the beginning of his appearance on LWT's "An Audience with Freddie Starr" in 1996, he threw handfuls of live maggots at the audience. Nevertheless, "Another Audience with Freddie Starr" followed in 1997. This time he hit eggs with a golf club into the audience.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr was the owner of Miinnehoma, the winning horse in the 1994 Grand National race. He was not present on the day because of television commitments elsewhere, but gave an unusual post-race interview live on television to presenter Des Lynam via a mobile phone, with the television viewers able only to hear Lynam's responses to what Starr was saying.


title: Freddie Starr

text: In March 2009, Starr appeared in "Living with the Dead", a reality television show about people being haunted by ghosts. Freddie claimed his 1930s house was being haunted by an evil entity which he called George. During the show it appeared that he was possessed by this entity. It was later revealed that the entity's name was Roger. During the episode, Freddie says that since he was a boy he was always spiritual and firmly believed in ghosts.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr was due to tour in 2010, but the tour was cancelled when he suffered a major heart attack in April 2010, resulting in quadruple heart bypass surgery. The tour dates were rescheduled for 2011 after he recovered.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr participated in the 2011 series of "I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here", but withdrew for health reasons.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr was a keen supporter of Everton F.C., and was a vegetarian from his teenage years onwards. At the height of his television celebrity, he appeared on ITV's coverage of the buildup to the 1984 FA Cup Final, in which Everton defeated Elton John's Watford 2–0. He appeared on the lawn outside the hotel where the Everton team were staying, on the morning of the game and gave an impromptu comedy performance to the players, who watched from the windows of their rooms.


title: Freddie Starr

text: In April 1994, Robin Coxhead, a gardener employed by Starr, was charged with alleged theft of £41,000 worth of jewellery from the comedian's home. When questioned by the police, Coxhead claimed the jewellery had been given to him as a reward because he had been giving oral sex to Starr over a period of five years. However, Coxhead was discredited in court when he was unable to state whether Starr's penis was circumcised or not. Coxhead was found guilty and sentenced to 15 months in prison in 1995.


title: Freddie Starr

text: In October 2012, Starr obtained an injunction to prevent a claim from being made about his personal life. The injunction was overturned as it was considered to be an issue involving potential defamation, which the media outlets concerned were not planning to publish. On 8 October 2012, "Channel 4 News" reported allegations relating to Starr's appearance on Jimmy Savile's BBC television show "Clunk Click" in 1974, which he denied through his lawyer and in media interviews.


title: Freddie Starr

text: On 1 November 2012, as part of Operation Yewtree, Starr was arrested by police at his Warwickshire home, in connection with the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal. He was arrested on three subsequent occasions, without any connections to Savile, the last being on 12 February 2014. Starr denied the claims made against him. On 6 May 2014, it was reported that the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to bring charges against Starr in connection with the allegations, on the grounds of "insufficient evidence".


title: Freddie Starr

text: On 10 July 2015, the High Court dismissed a claim for slander and libel that Starr had brought against the woman who had made the allegations relating to his appearance on "Clunk Click" in 1974. The woman's claim was found to be true, but the case could not proceed because of the passage of time. He emigrated to Spain, but denied this was due to the legal bill estimated at £1 million, saying he had planned to move to Spain whatever the outcome of the court case.


title: Freddie Starr

text: Starr was found dead at his home in Mijas, on the Costa Del Sol, Spain, on 9 May 2019, aged 76. A post-mortem showed that he died from coronary artery disease. The director of Malaga province's Institute of Legal Medicine stated that Starr's death "was the result of a natural process, and specifically an ischemic heart disease."


title: Freddie Starr

text: At the time of his death, Starr was living in constrained financial circumstances, and his funeral costs were covered by an undertaker from Sheffield. The funeral was held at Prescot Parish Church on Merseyside on 13 June 2019, with his body being buried in a family-owned grave in a cemetery at Huyton.


title: Chicken nugget

text: A chicken nugget is a food product consisting of a small piece of deboned chicken meat that is breaded or battered, then deep-fried or baked. Invented in the 1950s, chicken nuggets have become a very popular fast food restaurant item, as well as widely sold frozen for home use.


title: Chicken nugget

text: The chicken nugget was invented in the 1950s by Robert C. Baker, a food science professor at Cornell University, and published as unpatented academic work. This bite-sized piece of chicken, coated in batter and then deep fried, was called the "Chicken Crispie" by Baker and his associates. Two problems the meat industry was facing at the time were being able to clump ground meat without a skin and producing a batter coating that could be both deep fried and frozen without becoming detached. Baker's innovations solved these problems and made it possible to form chicken nuggets in any shape by first coating the meat in vinegar, salt, grains, and milk powder to make it hold together and then using an egg and grain based batter that could be fried as well as frozen.


title: Chicken nugget

text: Chicken nuggets are generally regarded as a fatty, unhealthy food. A study published in the "American Journal of Medicine" analyzed the composition of chicken nuggets from two American fast food chains. It found that less than half of the material was skeletal muscle, with fat occurring in an equal or greater proportion. Other components included epithelial tissue, bone, nervous tissue and connective tissue. The authors concluded that "Chicken nuggets are mostly fat, and their name is a misnomer."


title: Chicken nugget

text: The processing required for making chicken nuggets begins with deboning. The chicken is cut and shaped to the correct size. This is done either manually, or by a series of automatic blades, or by a process called "grinding" (a method of deboning in which the softer parts of the chicken carcass are forced through a mesh, leaving behind the more solid pieces, resulting in a meat paste. If used, this paste is then shaped before battering). The pieces are battered and breaded in a large cylindrical drum that rotates, evenly coating all of the pieces in the desired spices and breading. The pieces are then fried in oil until the batter has set and the outside reaches the desired color. Finally, the nuggets are packaged, frozen and stored for shipping. While specific ingredients and production methods may vary between manufacturers, the above practices hold true for most of the industry.


title: Chicken nugget

text: Chicken nuggets have been the subject of food challenges, social media phenomena, and many more forms of public notoriety. The dish has inspired gourmet restaurants, exercise routines, and even feature-length productions, including "Cooties", a movie about a grade school child who eats a chicken nugget infected with a virus that turns prepubescent children into zombies. Thomas Welborn holds the world record for eating the most chicken nuggets in three minutes (746 grams, or approximately 42 chicken nuggets).


title: Chicken nugget

text: On Twitter, the most retweeted tweet of 2017 was made by Carter Wilkerson who asked Wendy's what it would take for them to offer him a year of free nuggets. The tweet generated over 3.5 million retweets.


title: Chicken nugget

text: The largest recorded chicken nugget weighed and was long and wide and was created by Empire Kosher. It was unveiled at Kosherfest in Secaucus, New Jersey on October 29, 2013.


title: Chicken nugget

text: In recent years, chicken nuggets made without chicken and with plant-based ingredients have entered the market and are sold by major retailers as vegan chicken nuggets. They are made from ingredients that include pea protein, soy protein, textured vegetable protein, and wheat gluten. Companies such as Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and Morningstar Farms sell vegan chicken nuggets. In 2019, McDonald's trialed vegan McNuggets made of chickpeas and potatoes in Norway. Swedish fast food restaurant Max Hamburgare offers a dish containing nuggets made of falafel. Quorn also supplies vegetarian chicken-like nuggets derived from fungus. In 2022, KFC began serving vegan chicken nuggets at its 4,000 U.S. locations.


title: Chicken nugget

text: In 2022, Michele Simon wrote in "Forbes" that there were more than 20 brands selling vegan chicken nuggets. In 2022, Avery Yale Kamila said in the "Portland Press Herald" that because young people are the most interested in vegan food, it was not surprising that "vegan foods associated with childhood, such as hot dogs and chicken nuggets, would be the first to partner with youth-oriented TV shows and movies." In 2021, "Culture Map Dallas" taste tested vegan chicken nuggets, and in 2022, "Bon Appétit" magazine taste tested vegan chicken nuggets.


title: Super Troopers

text: Super Troopers is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and written by and starring the Broken Lizard comedy group (Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske). Marisa Coughlan, Daniel von Bargen and Brian Cox co-star while Lynda Carter has a cameo appearance. In total, Fox Searchlight paid $3.25 million for distribution rights of the film and it grossed $23 million at the box office.


title: Super Troopers

text: In the fictional town of Spurbury, Vermont, four Vermont state troopers patrol a section of highway and compete for prominence with the local police department. Although they are warned that their station risks being shuttered due to low productivity, the troopersLieutenant Arcot Ramathorn, "Rabbit" Roto, "Mac" Womack, and Carl Fosterdelight in playing practical jokes on unsuspecting motorists and each other, rather than enforcing the law. They particularly enjoy tormenting fellow trooper Rodney Farva, a cocky and overzealous officer who has been suspended from the road for an unspecified incident.


title: Super Troopers

text: The troopers, led by Captain John O'Hagen, are called to investigate an abandoned Winnebago off the highway, only to find the Spurbury police have already arrived: by claiming the investigation, the Spurbury police chief, Bruce Grady, hopes to force the closure of the troopers' station, thereby securing increased funding for his agency. The animosity leads to a brawl between the assembled officers, during which the body of a murdered woman is discovered inside the Winnebago. The troopers observe a tattoo on the dead woman depicting a monkey. During a routine traffic stop of a semi truck shortly after, Foster and Womack discover a large shipment of marijuana marked with stickers depicting the same monkey. The troopers suspect the dead woman and the marijuana are related, but Chief Grady laughs off the claim and refuses Captain O'Hagen's suggestion that the troopers and local police cooperate on the investigation.


title: Super Troopers

text: Foster begins a relationship with Spurbury police officer Ursula Hanson and, while attempting to have sex with her in the now-impounded Winnebago, discovers hidden bundles of marijuana, all bearing the same monkey sticker. Foster conspires with Ursula, who hates her coworkers and is stuck manning the front desk, to reveal the bust at an upcoming visit by the governor, thereby proving the troopers' suspicions and embarrassing the local police. Meanwhile, Farva is reinstated to patrol and partnered with an exasperated Ramathorn. However, Farva attacks a restaurant cashier and is arrested by the Spurbury police. Chief Grady offers Farva a job with his department in exchange for information about the drug investigation, but Farva refuses. Farva is subsequently reprimanded by an infuriated O'Hagen, who re-suspends Farva.


title: Super Troopers

text: The governor arrives in Spurbury; Ramathorn and Foster break into the police impound and steal the Winnebago, planning to reveal the marijuana discovered by Foster at a press conference. They barely make it in time, only to discover the marijuana has already been seized by the Spurbury police, with Chief Grady claiming credit. Foster accuses Ursula of revealing the location of the marijuana in exchange for a favorable assignment. Having nothing to show for their efforts, the state troopers expect their station to be shut down.


title: Super Troopers

text: Back at the station, the troopers find Farva dressed in a Spurbury police uniform; Foster realizes that it was Farva, not Ursula, who betrayed the location of the marijuana. The troopers, including Captain O'Hagen, handcuff Farva to a toilet and drunkenly vandalize Chief Grady's house. Ursula offers to help the troopers get back at Grady, and tips them off to intercept a drug-running truck. As they attempt to pursue it, the troopers encounter an escaped Farva, who holds them at gunpoint and berates them for not taking him seriously as a cop. O'Hagen intervenes and the troopers convince Farva to help them stop the drug smugglers. Following the truck to a nearby airfield, the troopers observe it being loaded with marijuana from a Canadian-marked plane. Chief Grady and several Spurbury officers then arrive, and the troopers realize that the local police are running protection for the smugglers. After creating a diversion, the troopers brawl with the Spurbury officers and smugglers, ultimately arresting them.


title: Super Troopers

text: Some days later, the governor sends Captain O'Hagen a letter thanking him for his efforts, but telling him the station will still be shut down. Three months later, Ramathorn and Rabbit, as deliverymen, find themselves bringing a keg of beer to a party hosted by underage college students they previously arrested. As the teenagers torment the seemingly powerless ex-troopers, they remove their deliverymen's uniforms to reveal that they are Spurbury police officers, having replaced their corrupt predecessors.


title: Super Troopers

text: Broken Lizard member Steve Lemme stated that the idea for the film came from road tripping to various weddings in his friend and fellow BL member Jay Chandraskhar's car and frequently getting pulled over by cops. As they were frequently under the influence of drugs, the gang began to wonder what would happen if the cops were aware of the situation and "had a sense of humor". Theorizing that if they did that they "could have fucked with us so much."


title: Super Troopers

text: The opening chase scene that ended at Thin Queen Tavern, was actually The Golden Rail Ale House, located in Newburgh, New York.


title: Super Troopers

text: The syrup chugging scene was filmed in M's Cozy Corner located in Fishkill, New York, which has since closed.


title: Super Troopers

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 35% based on 88 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A more miss-than-hit affair, "Super Troopers" will most likely appeal to those looking for something silly." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".


title: Super Troopers

text: Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film stars out of 4, saying "I can't quite recommend it — it's too patched together — but I almost can; it's the kind of movie that makes you want to like it". A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" gave the film a negative review and opined that the film is "bad and tasteless".


title: Super Troopers

text: Overall, the film grossed $18.5 million in the United States and a total of $23.2 million worldwide. The film would eventually become a cult film with "Esquire" describing it as "shaggy-dog classic for Generation Y." It made $60 million from VHS, DVD and Blu-ray rentals, and as of December 2006 another $10.6 million from sales.


title: Super Troopers

text: In 2001, "Super Troopers" won the Audience Award at the South by Southwest Film Competition. The film tied with "Lady Porn" (2001) and "Wave Twisters" (2001).


title: Super Troopers

text: A sequel was funded partly through crowdfunding site Indiegogo, and was released in April 2018 with most of the main cast returning.


title: Paragraph

text: A paragraph () is a self-contained unit of discourse in writing dealing with a particular point or idea. Though not required by the orthographic conventions of any language with a writing system, paragraphs are a conventional means of organizing extended segments of prose.


title: Paragraph

text: The oldest classical British and Latin writing had little or no space between words and could be written in boustrophedon (alternating directions). Over time, text direction (left to right) became standardized. Word dividers and terminal punctuation became common. The first way to divide sentences into groups was the original ', similar to an underscore at the beginning of the new group. The Greek ' evolved into the pilcrow (¶), which in English manuscripts in the Middle Ages can be seen inserted inline between sentences.


title: Paragraph

text: Ancient manuscripts also divided sentences into paragraphs with line breaks (newline) followed by an initial at the beginning of the next paragraph. An initial is an oversized capital letter, sometimes outdented beyond the margin of the text. This style can be seen, for example, in the original Old English manuscript of Beowulf. Outdenting is still used in English typography, though not commonly. Modern English typography usually indicates a new paragraph by indenting the first line. This style can be seen in the (handwritten) United States Constitution from 1787. For additional ornamentation, a hedera leaf or other symbol can be added to the inter-paragraph white space, or put in the indentation space.


title: Paragraph

text: A second common modern English style is to use no indenting, but add vertical white space to create "block paragraphs." On a typewriter, a double carriage return produces a blank line for this purpose; professional typesetters (or word processing software) may put in an arbitrary vertical space by adjusting leading. This style is very common in electronic formats, such as on the World Wide Web and email. Wikipedia itself employs this format.


title: Paragraph

text: Professionally printed material in English typically does not indent the first paragraph, but indents those that follow. For example, Robert Bringhurst states that we should "Set opening paragraphs flush left." Bringhurst explains as follows:


title: Paragraph

text: The function of a paragraph is to mark a pause, setting the paragraph apart from what precedes it. If a paragraph is preceded by a title or subhead, the indent is superfluous and can therefore be omitted.


title: Paragraph

text: "The Elements of Typographic Style" states that "at least one en [space]" should be used to indent paragraphs after the first, noting that that is the "practical minimum". An em space is the most commonly used paragraph indent. Miles Tinker, in his book "Legibility of Print", concluded that indenting the first line of paragraphs increases readability by 7%, on average.


title: Paragraph

text: In modern usage, paragraph initiation is typically indicated by one or more of a preceding blank line, indentation, an "Initial" ("drop cap") or other indication. Historically, the pilcrow symbol() was used in Latin and western European languages. Other languages have their own marks with similar function.


title: Paragraph

text: Widows and orphans occur when the first line of a paragraph is the last in a column or page, or when the last line of a paragraph is the first line of a new column or page.


title: Paragraph

text: In word processing and desktop publishing, a hard return or paragraph break indicates a new paragraph, to be distinguished from the soft return at the end of a line internal to a paragraph. This distinction allows word wrap to automatically re-flow text as it is edited, without losing paragraph breaks. The software may apply vertical white space or indenting at paragraph breaks, depending on the selected style.


title: Paragraph

text: How such documents are actually stored depends on the file format. For example, HTML uses the <p> tag as a paragraph container. In plaintext files, there are two common formats. The pre-formatted text will have a newline at the end of every physical line, and two newlines at the end of a paragraph, creating a blank line. An alternative is to only put newlines at the end of each paragraph, and leave word wrapping up to the application that displays or processes the text.


title: Paragraph

text: A line break that is inserted manually, and preserved when re-flowing, may still be distinct from a paragraph break, although this is typically not done in prose. HTML's <br /> tag produces a line break without ending the paragraph; the W3C recommends using it only to separate lines of verse (where each "paragraph" is a stanza), or in a street address.


title: Paragraph

text: Paragraphs are commonly numbered using the decimal system, where (in books) the integral part of the decimal represents the number of the chapter and the fractional parts are arranged in each chapter in order of magnitude. Thus in Whittaker and Watson's 1921 "A Course of Modern Analysis", chapter 9 is devoted to Fourier Series; within that chapter §9.6 introduces Riemann's theory, the following section §9.61 treats an associated function, following §9.62 some properties of that function, following §9.621 a related lemma, while §9.63 introduces Riemann's main theorem, and so on. Whittaker and Watson attribute this system of numbering to Giuseppe Peano on their "Contents" page, although this attribution does not seem to be widely credited elsewhere. Gradshteyn and Ryzhik is another book using this scheme since its third edition in 1951.


title: Paragraph

text: Many published books use a device to separate certain paragraphs further when there is a change of scene or time. This extra space, especially when co-occurring at a page or section break, may contain a special symbol known as a dinkus, a fleuron, or a stylistic dingbat.


title: Paragraph

text: The crafting of clear, coherent paragraphs is the subject of considerable stylistic debate. The form varies among different types of writing. For example, newspapers, scientific journals, and fictional essays have somewhat different conventions for the placement of paragraph breaks.


title: Paragraph

text: A common English usage misconception is that a paragraph has three to five sentences; single-word paragraphs can be seen in some professional writing, and journalists often use single-sentence paragraphs.


title: Paragraph

text: English students are sometimes taught that a paragraph should have a topic sentence or "main idea", preferably first, and multiple "supporting" or "detail" sentences that explain or supply evidence. One technique of this type, intended for essay writing, is known as the Schaffer paragraph. Topic sentences are largely a phenomenon of school-based writing, and the convention does not necessarily obtain in other contexts. This advice is also culturally specific, for example, it differs from stock advice for the construction of paragraphs in Japanese (translated as "danraku" 段落).


title: History of South Korea

text: The history of South Korea formally begins with the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945. Noting that, South Korea and North Korea are entirely different countries, despite still being the same people and on the same peninsula.


title: History of South Korea

text: Korea was administratively partitioned in 1945, at the end of World War II. As Korea was under Japanese rule during World War II, Korea was officially a belligerent against the Allies by virtue of being Japanese territory. The unconditional surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea into two occupation zones (similar to the four zones in Germany), with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the Soviet Union administering the area north of the 38th parallel. This division was meant to be temporary (as was in Germany) and was first intended to return a unified Korea back to its people after the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China could arrange a single government for the peninsula.


title: History of South Korea

text: The two parties were unable to agree on the implementation of Joint Trusteeship over Korea because of 2 different opinions. This led in 1948 to the establishment of two separate governments with the two very opposite ideologies; the Communist-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the West-aligned First Republic of Korea – each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea. On 25 June 1950, the Korean War broke out. After much destruction, the war ended on 27 July 1953, with the 1948 status quo being restored, as neither the DPRK nor the First Republic had succeeded in conquering the other's portion of the divided Korea. The peninsula was divided by the Korean Demilitarized Zone and the two separate governments stabilised into the existing political entities of North and South Korea.


title: History of South Korea

text: South Korea's subsequent history is marked by alternating periods of democratic and autocratic rule. Civilian governments are conventionally numbered from the First Republic of Syngman Rhee to the contemporary Sixth Republic. The First Republic, arguably democratic at its inception (though preceded by major anti-communist and anti-socialist purges), became increasingly autocratic until its collapse in 1960. The Second Republic was strongly democratic, but was overthrown in under a year and replaced by an autocratic military regime. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics were nominally democratic, but are widely regarded as the continuation of military rule. With the current Sixth Republic, the country has gradually stabilized into a liberal democracy.


title: History of South Korea

text: Since its inception, South Korea has seen substantial development in education, economy, and culture. Since the 1960s, the nation has developed from one of Asia's poorest to one of the world's wealthiest nations. Education, particularly at the tertiary level, has expanded dramatically. It is said to be one of the "Four Tigers" of rising Asian states along with Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong.


title: History of South Korea

text: Emperor Hirohito announced the surrender of the Empire of Japan to the Allied Powers on 15 August 1945. General Order No. 1 for the surrender of Japan (prepared by the Joint Chiefs of Staff of U.S. military forces and approved on 17 August 1945) prescribed separate surrender procedures for Japanese forces in Korea north and south of the 38th parallel. After Japan's surrender to the Allies (formalised on 2 September 1945), division at the 38th parallel marked the beginning of Soviet and U.S. occupation the North and South, respectively. This division was meant to be temporary, to be replaced by a trusteeship of the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and Republic of China which would prepare for Korean independence. The trusteeship had been discussed at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. U.S. forces landed at Incheon on 8 September 1945, and established a military government shortly thereafter. Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, their commander, took charge of the government. Faced with mounting popular discontent, in October 1945 Hodge established the Korean Advisory Council. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea, which had operated from China, sent a delegation with three interpreters to Hodge, but he refused to meet with them. Likewise, Hodge refused to recognize the newly formed People's Republic of Korea and its People's Committees, and outlawed it on 12 December. A year later, an interim legislature and interim government were established, headed by Kim Kyu-shik and Syngman Rhee respectively. Political and economic chaos – arising from a variety of causes – plagued the country in this period. The after-effects of the Japanese exploitation remained in the South, as in the North. In addition, the U.S. military was largely unprepared for the challenge of administering the country, arriving with little knowledge of the language, culture or political situation. Thus many of their policies had unintended destabilizing effects. Waves of refugees from North Korea and returnees from abroad added to the turmoil.


title: History of South Korea

text: A five-year trusteeship was discussed, and a was established. The commission met intermittently in Seoul but deadlocked over the issue of establishing a national government. In September 1947, with no solution in sight, the United States submitted the Korean question to the UN General Assembly.


title: History of South Korea

text: The resolution from the UN General Assembly called for a UN-supervised general election in Korea, but after the North rejected this proposition, a general election for a Constitutional Assembly took place in the South only, in May 1948. A constitution was adopted, setting forth a presidential form of government and specifying a four-year term for the presidency. According to the provisions of the Constitution, an indirect presidential election took place in July. Rhee Syngman, as head of the new assembly, assumed the presidency and proclaimed the Republic of Korea (South Korea) on 15 August 1948.


title: History of South Korea

text: On 15 August 1948, the Republic of Korea was formally established, with Syngman Rhee as the first president. With the establishment of Rhee's government, de jure sovereignty also passed into the new government. On 9 September 1948, a communist government, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), was proclaimed under Kim Il-sung. However, on 12 December 1948, by its resolution 195 in the Third General Assembly, the United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea.


title: History of South Korea

text: In 1946, the North implemented land reforms by confiscating private property, Japanese and pro-Japanese owned facilities and factories, and placed them under state ownership. Demand for land reform in the South grew strong, and it was eventually enacted in June 1949. Koreans with large landholdings were obliged to divest most of their land. Approximately 40 percent of total farm households became small landowners. However, because preemptive rights were given to people who had ties with landowners before liberation, many pro-Japanese groups obtained or retained properties.


title: History of South Korea

text: With the country now divided, the relationship between the two Koreas turned more antagonistic as time passed. The Soviet forces having withdrawn in 1948, North Korea pressured the South to expel the United States forces, but Rhee sought to align his government strongly with America, and against both North Korea and Japan. Although talks towards normalization of relations with Japan took place, they achieved little. Meanwhile, the government took in vast sums of American aid, in amounts sometimes near the total size of the national budget. The nationalist government also continued many of the practices of the U.S. military government. In 1948, the Rhee government repressed military uprisings in Jeju, Suncheon and Yeosu. During the rebellion and its suppression 14,000 to 60,000 people were killed in all fighting. Of note, President Rhee's regime was intolerant of opposition. A famous event that highlighted this was the arrest and conviction of future President Park Chung-hee, for communist conspiracy in 1948.


title: History of South Korea

text: The main policy of the First Republic of South Korea was anti-communism and "unification by expanding northward". The South's military was neither sufficiently equipped nor prepared, but the Rhee administration was determined to reunify Korea by military force with aid from the United States. However, in the second parliamentary elections held on 30 May 1950, the majority of seats went to independents who did not endorse this position, confirming the lack of support and the fragile state of the nation.


title: History of South Korea

text: When the communist army attacked from the North in June, retreating South Korean forces executed tens of thousands suspected communists or sympathisers, either in prison or in a reeducation movement, in what is known as the Bodo League massacre.


title: History of South Korea

text: On 25 June 1950, North Korean forces invaded South Korea. Led by the U.S., a 16-member coalition undertook the first collective action under the United Nations Command (UNC) in defense of South Korea. Oscillating battle lines inflicted a high number of civilian casualties and wrought immense destruction. With the People's Republic of China's entry on behalf of North Korea in late 1950, the fighting came to a stalemate close to the original line of demarcation. Armistice negotiations, initiated in July 1951, finally concluded on 27 July 1953 at Panmunjom, now in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Following the armistice, the South Korean government returned to Seoul on the symbolic date of 15 August 1953.


title: History of South Korea

text: After the armistice, South Korea experienced political turmoil under years of autocratic leadership of Syngman Rhee, which was ended by student revolt in 1960. Throughout his rule, Rhee sought to take additional steps to cement his control of government. These began in 1952, when the government was still based in Busan due to the ongoing war. In May of that year, Rhee pushed through constitutional amendments which made the presidency a directly-elected position. To do this, he declared martial law, arrested opposing members of parliament, demonstrators, and anti-government groups. Rhee was subsequently elected by a wide margin.


title: History of South Korea

text: Rhee regained control of parliament in the 1954 election, and thereupon pushed through an amendment to exempt himself from the eight-year term limit, and was once again re-elected in 1956. Soon after, Rhee's administration arrested members of the opposing party and executed the leader after accusing him of being a North Korean spy.


title: History of South Korea

text: The administration became increasingly repressive while dominating the political arena, and in 1958, it sought to amend the National Security Law to tighten government control over all levels of administration, including the local units. These measures caused much outrage among the people, but despite public outcry, Rhee's administration rigged the March 1960 presidential election and won by a landslide.


title: History of South Korea

text: On that election day, protests by students and citizens against the irregularities of the election burst out in the city of Masan. Initially these protests were quelled with force by local police, but when the body of a student was found floating in the harbor of Masan, the whole country was enraged and protests spread nationwide. On 19 April, students from various universities and schools rallied and marched in protest in the Seoul streets, in what would be called the April Revolution. The government declared martial law, called in the army, and suppressed the crowds with open fire. Subsequent protests throughout the country shook the government, and after an escalated protest with university professors taking to the streets on 25 April, Rhee submitted his official resignation on 26 April and fled into exile.


title: History of South Korea

text: After the student revolution, power was briefly held by an interim administration under the Foreign Minister Heo Jeong. A new parliamentary election was held on 29 July 1960. The Democratic Party, which had been in the opposition during the First Republic, easily gained power and the Second Republic was established. The revised constitution dictated the Second Republic to take the form of a parliamentary cabinet system where the President took only a nominal role. This was the first and the only instance South Korea turned to a parliamentary cabinet system instead of a presidential system. The assembly elected Yun Po-sun as President and Chang Myon as the Prime Minister and head of government in August 1960.


title: History of South Korea

text: The Second Republic saw the proliferation of political activity which had been repressed under the Rhee regime. Much of this activity was from leftist and student groups, which had been instrumental in the overthrow of the First Republic. Union membership and activity grew rapidly during the later months of 1960, including the Teachers' Union, Journalists' Union, and the Federation of Korean Trade Union. Around 2,000 demonstrations were held during the eight months of the Second Republic.


title: History of South Korea

text: Under pressure from the left, the Chang government carried out a series of purges of military and police officials who had been involved in anti-democratic activities or corruption. A Special Law to this effect was passed on 31 October 1960. 40,000 people were placed under investigation; of these, more than 2,200 government officials and 4,000 police officers were purged. In addition, the government considered reducing the size of the army by 100,000, although this plan was shelved.


title: History of South Korea

text: In economic terms as well, the government was faced with mounting instability. The government formulated a Five-Year Economic Development Plan, although it was unable to act on it prior to being overthrown. The Second Republic saw the "hwan" lose half of its value against the dollar between fall 1960 and spring 1961.


title: History of South Korea

text: Although the government had been established with support of the people, it had failed to implement effective reforms which brought about endless social unrest, political turmoil and ultimately, the May 16 coup.


title: History of South Korea

text: The May 16 coup, led by Major General Park Chung-hee on 16 May 1961, put an effective end to the Second Republic. Park was one of a group of military leaders who had been pushing for the de-politicization of the military. Dissatisfied with the cleanup measures undertaken by the Second Republic and convinced that the current disoriented state would collapse into communism, they chose to take matters into their own hands.


title: History of South Korea

text: The National Assembly was dissolved and military officers replaced the civilian officials. In May 1961, the junta declared "Pledges of the Revolution": anticommunism; strengthened relations with the United States; an end to government corruption termed "fresh and clean morality"; a self-reliant economy; working towards reunification; and a return to democratic civilian government within two years.


title: History of South Korea

text: As a means to check the opposition, the military authority created the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) in June 1961, with Kim Jong-pil, a relative of Park, as its first director. In December 1962, a referendum was held on returning to a presidential system of rule, which was allegedly passed with a 78% majority. Park and the other military leaders pledged not to run for office in the next elections. However, Park became presidential candidate of the new Democratic Republican Party (DRP), which consisted of mainly KCIA officials, ran for president and won the election of 1963 by a narrow margin.


title: History of South Korea

text: Park's administration started the Third Republic by announcing the Five-Year Economic Development Plan, an export-oriented industrialization policy. Top priority was placed on the growth of a self-reliant economy and modernization; "Development First, Unification Later" became the slogan of the times and the economy grew rapidly with vast improvement in industrial structure, especially in the basic and heavy chemical industries. Capital was needed for such development, so the Park regime used the influx of foreign aid from Japan and the United States to provide loans to export businesses, with preferential treatment in obtaining low-interest bank loans and tax benefits. Cooperating with the government, these businesses would later become the "chaebol".


title: History of South Korea

text: Relations with Japan were normalized by the Korea-Japan treaty ratified in June 1965. This treaty brought Japanese funds in the form of loans and compensation for the damages suffered during the colonial era without an official apology from the Japanese government, sparking much protest across the nation.


title: History of South Korea

text: The government also kept close ties with the United States, and continued to receive large amounts of aid. A status of forces agreement was concluded in 1966, clarifying the legal situation of the US forces stationed there. Soon thereafter, Korea joined the Vietnam War, eventually sending a total of 300,000 soldiers from 1964 to 1973 to fight alongside US troops and South Vietnamese Armed Forces.


title: History of South Korea

text: Economic and technological growth during this period improved the standard of living, which expanded opportunities for education. Workers with higher education were absorbed by the rapidly growing industrial and commercial sectors, and urban population surged. Construction of the Gyeongbu Expressway was completed and linked Seoul to the nation's southeastern region and the port cities of Incheon and Busan. Despite the immense economic growth, however, the standard of living for city laborers and farmers was still low. Laborers were working with low wages to increase the price competitiveness for the export-oriented economy plan, and farmers were in near poverty as the government controlled prices. As the rural economy steadily lost ground and caused dissent among the farmers, however, the government decided to implement measures to increase farm productivity and income by instituting the Saemaul Movement ("New Village Movement") in 1971. The movement's goal was to improve the quality of rural life, modernize both rural and urban societies and narrow the income gap between them.


title: History of South Korea

text: Park ran again in the 1967 presidential election, taking 51.4% of the vote. At the time the presidency was constitutionally limited to two terms, but a constitutional amendment was forced through the National Assembly in 1969 to allow him to seek a third term. Major protests and demonstrations against the constitutional amendment broke out, with large support gaining for the opposition leader Kim Dae-jung, but Park was again re-elected in the 1971 presidential election.


title: History of South Korea

text: Parliamentary elections followed shortly after the presidential election where the opposition party garnered most of the seats, giving them the power to pass constitutional amendments. Park, feeling threatened, declared a state of national emergency on 6 December 1971. In the midst of this domestic insecurity, the Nixon Doctrine had eased tensions among the world superpowers on the international scene, which caused a dilemma for Park, who had justified his regime based on the state policy of anti-communism. In a sudden gesture, the government proclaimed a joint communiqué for reunification with North Korea on 4 July 1972, and held Red Cross talks in Seoul and Pyongyang. However, there was no change in government policy regarding reunification, and on 17 October 1972, Park declared martial law, dissolving the National Assembly and suspending the constitution.


title: History of South Korea

text: The Fourth Republic began with the adoption of the Yushin Constitution on 21 November 1972. This new constitution gave Park effective control over the parliament and the possibility of permanent presidency. The president would be elected through indirect election by an elected body, and the term of presidency was extended to six years with no restrictions on reappointment. The legislature and judiciary were controlled by the government, and educational guidelines were under direct surveillance as well. Textbooks supporting the ideology of the military government were authorized by the government, diminishing the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education.


title: History of South Korea

text: Despite social and political unrest, the economy continued to flourish under the authoritarian rule with the export-based industrialization policy. The first two five-year economic development plans were successful, and the 3rd and 4th five-year plans focused on expanding the heavy and chemical industries, raising the capability for steel production and oil refining. However, large conglomerate "chaebols" continuously received preferential treatment and came to dominate the domestic market. As most of the development had come from foreign capital, most of the profit went back to repaying the loans and interest.


title: History of South Korea

text: Students and activists for democracy continued their demonstrations and protests for the abolition of the Yushin system and in the face of continuing popular unrest, Park's administration promulgated emergency decrees in 1974 and 1975, which led to the jailing of hundreds of dissidents. The protests grew larger and stronger, with politicians, intellectuals, religious leaders, laborers and farmers all joining in the movement for democracy. In 1978, Park was elected to another term by indirect election, which was met with more demonstrations and protests. The government retaliated by removing the opposition leader Kim Young-sam from the assembly and suppressing the activists with violent means. In 1979, mass anti-government demonstrations occurred nationwide, in the midst of this political turmoil, Park Chung-hee was assassinated by the director of the KCIA, Kim Jae-gyu, thus bringing the 18-year rule of military regime to an end.


title: History of South Korea

text: After the assassination of Park Chung-hee, Prime Minister Choi Kyu-hah took the president's role only to be usurped 6 days later by Major General Chun Doo-hwan's 1979 Coup d'état of December Twelfth. In May of the following year, a vocal civil society composed primarily of university students and labour unions led strong protests against authoritarian rule all over the country. Chun Doo-hwan declared martial law on 17 May 1980, and protests escalated. Political opponents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-pil were arrested, and Kim Young-sam was confined to house arrest.


title: History of South Korea

text: On 18 May 1980, a confrontation broke out in the city of Gwangju between protesting students of Chonnam National University and the armed forces dispatched by the Martial Law Command. The incident turned into a citywide protest that lasted nine days until 27 May and resulted in the Gwangju massacre. Immediate estimates of the civilian death toll ranged from a few dozen to 2000, with a later full investigation by the civilian government finding nearly 200 deaths and 850 injured. In June 1980, Chun ordered the National Assembly to be dissolved. He subsequently created the National Defense Emergency Policy Committee, and installed himself as a member. On 17 July, he resigned his position of KCIA Director, and then held only the position of committee member. In September 1980, President Choi Kyu-hah was forced to resign from president to give way to the new military leader, Chun Doo-hwan.


title: History of South Korea

text: In September of that year, Chun was elected president by indirect election and inaugurated in March of the following year, officially starting the Fifth Republic. A new Constitution was established with notable changes; maintaining the presidential system but limiting it to a single 7-year term, strengthening the authority of the National Assembly, and conferring the responsibilities of appointing judiciary to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. However, the system of indirect election of the president stayed and many military persons were appointed to highly ranked government positions, keeping the remnants of the Yushin era.


title: History of South Korea

text: The government promised a new era of economic growth and democratic justice. Tight monetary laws and low interest rates contributed to price stability and helped the economy boom with notable growth in the electronics, semi-conductor, and automobile industries. The country opened up to foreign investments and GDP rose as Korean exports increased. This rapid economic growth, however, widened the gap between the rich and the poor, the urban and rural regions, and also exacerbated inter-regional conflicts. These dissensions, added to the hard-line measures taken against opposition to the government, fed intense rural and student movements, which had continued since the beginning of the republic.


title: History of South Korea

text: In foreign policy, ties with Japan were strengthened by state visits by Chun to Japan and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone to Korea. U.S. President Ronald Reagan also paid a visit, and relations with the Soviet Union and China improved. The relationship with North Korea was strained when in 1983 a terrorist bomb attack in Burma killed 17 high-ranking officials attending memorial ceremonies and North Korea was alleged to be behind the attacks. However, in 1980 North Korea had submitted a "one nation, two system" reunification proposal which was met with a suggestion from the South to meet and prepare a unification constitution and government through a referendum. The humanitarian issue of reuniting separated families was dealt with first, and in September 1985, families from both sides of the border made cross visits to Seoul and Pyongyang in an historic event.


title: History of South Korea

text: The government made many efforts for cultural development: the National Museum of Korea, Seoul Arts Center, and National Museum of Contemporary Art were all constructed during this time. The 1986 Asian Games were held successfully, and the bid for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul was successful as well.


title: History of South Korea

text: Despite economic growth and success in diplomatic relations, the government that gained power by coup d'état was essentially a military regime and the public's support and trust in it was low when the promises for democratic reform never materialized. In the 1985 National Assembly elections, opposition parties won more votes than the government party, clearly indicating that the public wanted a change. Many started to sympathize with the protesting students. The Gwangju massacre was never forgotten and in January 1987, when a protesting Seoul National University student died under police interrogation, public fury was immense. In April 1987, President Chun made a declaration that measures would be taken to protect the current constitution, instead of reforming it to allow for the direct election of the president. This announcement consolidated and strengthened the opposition; in June 1987, more than a million students and citizens participated in the nationwide anti-government protests of the June Struggle.


title: History of South Korea

text: On 29 June 1987, the government's presidential nominee Roh Tae-woo gave in to the demands and announced the June 29 Declaration, which called for the holding of direct presidential elections and restoration of civil rights. In October 1987 a revised Constitution was approved by a national referendum and direct elections for a new president were held in December, bringing the Fifth Republic to a close.


title: History of South Korea

text: Roh Tae-woo became president for the 13th presidential term in the first direct presidential election in 16 years. Although Roh was from a military background and one of the leaders of Chun's coup d'état, the inability of the opposition leaders Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam to agree on a unified candidacy, led to him being elected. The first female presidential candidate, Hong Sook-ja, even withdrew from the race in order to back Kim Young-sam against Roh.


title: History of South Korea

text: Roh was officially inaugurated in February 1988. The government set out to eliminate past vestiges of authoritarian rule, by revising laws and decrees to fit democratic provisions. Freedom of the press was expanded, university autonomy recognised, and restrictions on overseas travels were lifted. However, the growth of the economy had slowed down compared to the 1980s, resulting in stagnant exports, while commodity prices kept on rising.


title: History of South Korea

text: Shortly after Roh's inauguration, the Seoul Olympics took place, raising South Korea's international recognition and also greatly influencing foreign policy. Roh's government announced the official unification plan, "Nordpolitik", and established diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, China, and countries in Eastern Europe.


title: History of South Korea

text: A historic event was held in 1990 when North Korea accepted the proposal for exchange between the two Koreas, resulting in high-level talks, and cultural and sports exchanges. In 1991, a joint communiqué on denuclearization was agreed upon, and the two Koreas simultaneously became members of the UN.


title: History of South Korea

text: Kim Young-sam was elected president in the 1992 elections after Roh's tenure. He was the country's first civilian president in 30 years since 1962 and promised to build a "New Korea". The government set out to correct the mistakes of the previous administrations. Local government elections were held in 1995, and parliamentary elections in 1996. In a response to popular demand, former presidents Chun and Roh were both indicted on charges linked to bribery, illegal funds, and in the case of Chun, responsibility for the Gwangju massacre. They were tried and sentenced to prison in December 1996.


title: History of South Korea

text: Relations with the North improved and a summit meeting was planned, but postponed indefinitely with the death of Kim Il-sung. Tensions varied between the two Koreas thereafter, with cycles of small military skirmishes and apologies. The government also carried out substantial financial and economical reforms, joining the OECD in 1996, but encountered difficulties with political and financial scandals involving his son. The country also faced a variety of catastrophes which claimed many lives: a train collision and a ship sinking in 1993, the Seongsu Bridge collapse in 1994 and the Sampoong Department Store collapse in 1995. These incidents were a blow to the civilian government.


title: History of South Korea

text: In 1997, the nation suffered a severe financial crisis, and the government approached the International Monetary Fund for relief funds. This was the limit to what the nation could bear and led to the opposition leader Kim Dae-jung winning the presidency in the same year. This is the first time an opposition candidate won the presidency.


title: History of South Korea

text: In February 1998, Kim Dae-jung was officially inaugurated. South Korea had maintained its commitment to democratize its political processes and this was the first transfer of the government between parties by peaceful means. Kim's government faced the daunting task of overcoming the economic crisis, but with the joint efforts of the government's aggressive pursuit of foreign investment, cooperation from the industrial sector, and the citizen's gold-collecting campaign, the country was able to come out of the crisis in a relatively short period of time.


title: History of South Korea

text: Industrial reconstruction of the big conglomerate "chaebols" was pursued, a national pension system was established in 1998, educational reforms were carried out, government support for the IT field was increased, and notable cultural properties were registered as UNESCO Cultural Heritage sites. The 2002 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted with Japan, was a major cultural event where millions of supporters gathered to cheer in public places.


title: History of South Korea

text: In diplomacy, Kim Dae-jung pursued the "Sunshine Policy", a series of efforts to reconcile with North Korea. This culminated in reunions of the separated families of the Korean War and a summit talk with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. For these efforts, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000.


title: History of South Korea

text: Roh Moo-hyun was elected to the presidency in December 2002 by direct election. His victory came with much support from the younger generation and civic groups who had hopes of a participatory democracy, and Roh's administration consequently launched with the motto of "participation government". Unlike the previous governments, the administration decided to take a long-term view and execute market-based reforms at a gradual pace. This approach did not please the public, however, and by the end of 2003, approval ratings were falling.


title: History of South Korea

text: The Roh administration succeeded in overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, diluting the collusive ties between politics and business, empowering the civil society, settling the Korea-United States FTA issue, continuing summit talks with North Korea, and launching the high-speed train system, KTX. But despite a boom in the stock market, youth unemployment rates were high, real estate prices skyrocketed and the economy lagged.


title: History of South Korea

text: In March 2004, the National Assembly voted to impeach Roh on charges of breach of election laws and corruption. This motion rallied his supporters and affected the outcome of the parliamentary election held in April, with the ruling party becoming the majority. Roh was reinstated in May by the Constitutional Court, who had overturned the verdict. However, the ruling party then lost its majority in by-elections in 2005, as discontinued reform plans, continual labor unrest, Roh's personal feuds with the media, and diplomatic friction with the United States and Japan caused criticism of the government's competence on political and socioeconomic issues and on foreign affairs.


title: History of South Korea

text: In April 2009, after leaving office, Roh Moo-hyun and his family members were investigated for bribery and corruption; Roh denied the charges. On 23 May 2009, Roh committed suicide by jumping into a ravine.


title: History of South Korea

text: Roh's successor, Lee Myung-bak, was inaugurated in February 2008. Stating "creative pragmatism" as a guiding principle, Lee's administration set out to revitalize the flagging economy, re-energize diplomatic ties, stabilize social welfare, and meet the challenges of globalization. In April 2008, the ruling party secured a majority in the National Assembly elections. Also that month, summit talks with the United States addressed the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement and helped ease tensions between the two countries caused by the previous administrations. Lee agreed to lift the ban on US beef imports, which caused massive protests and demonstrations in the months that followed, as paranoia of potential mad cow disease gripped the country.


title: History of South Korea

text: Many issues plagued the government in the beginning of the administration, starting from the destruction of the Namdaemun gates, in which the government was accused of not providing adequate security. Further controversies arose over the years, regarding the appointment of high-ranking government officials, rampant political conflicts, accusations of oppression of media and strained diplomatic relationships with North Korea and Japan. The economy was affected by the global recession as the worst economic crisis since 1997 hit the country. The Lee administration tackled these issues by actively issuing statements, reshuffling the cabinet, and implementing administrative and industrial reforms.


title: History of South Korea

text: After regulatory and economic reforms, the economy bounced back, with the country's economy marking growth and apparently recovering from the global recession. The administration also pursued improved diplomatic relations by holding summit talks with the United States, China and Japan, and participating in the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit to strengthen ties with other Asian countries. The 2010 G20 summit was held in Seoul, where issues regarding the global economic crisis were discussed.


title: History of South Korea

text: In October 2020, South Korea’s Supreme court upheld a 17-year prison sentence for former president Lee Myung-bak, because of taking bribes before and during his presidency.


title: History of South Korea

text: Park Geun-hye was inaugurated in February 2013. She is the eighteenth President of South Korea and is the eldest child of South Korea's stratocratic third President, Park Chung-hee. She was the first woman to be elected South Korean president, and to be elected as a head of state in the modern history of Northeast Asia. Over the years, however, her reputation was marred by her incompetency of handling the "Sewol" ferry disaster, her handling of the MERS outbreak, and later a major scandal, leading to her impeachment in December 2016. The corruption scandal involving Choi Soon-sil quickly blew up after reports from multiple news organizations (the most notable of which was JTBC) in 2016, nationwide protests ensued on a weekly basis, with participant count hitting a maximum of over 2.3 million (as reported by the protesters). These protests turned out to be the biggest series of mass protests in Korean history. The protests continued even after the Congress voted on Park's impeachment. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn acted as President of South Korea pending completion of investigations into the actions of Park Geun-hye, and in the absence of any intervening election. The impeachment was upheld by the Constitutional Court on 10 March 2017, ending Park's presidency and forcing her out of office.


title: History of South Korea

text: In April 2018, former president Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 24 years in jail, because of abuse of power and corruption.


title: History of South Korea

text: Moon Jae-in was inaugurated on 10 May 2017. As President, his tenure saw an improving political relationship with North Korea, some increasing divergence in the military alliance with the United States, and the successful hosting of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. Moon Jae-in met with North Korean chairman Kim Jong-un at the April 2018 inter-Korean summit, May 2018 inter-Korean summit, and September 2018 inter-Korean summit. During the COVID-19 outbreak, President Moon had gained a positive reputation both domestically and internationally with the initial successes of controlling the outbreak. Subsequent outbreaks in 2021, however, caused his ratings to plummet. As of 2021, South Korea recorded more deaths than births, resulting in a population decline for the first time on record.


title: History of South Korea

text: In April 2020, President Moon's Democratic party won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. It took 180 seats in the 300-member National Assembly with its allies. The opposition People Power Party (UFP) won 103 seats.


title: History of South Korea

text: President Moon finished his term on 9 May 2022. His successor, People Power Party candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, took over the seat on 10 May 2022 after winning narrowly the 2022 South Korean presidential election.


title: History of South Korea

text: On 29 October 2022, at least 153 people were crushed to death when a crowd surged in an alleyway during Halloween festivities in Seoul's Itaewon district. President Yoon declared a state of official national mourning.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a United States–based think tank founded in 2007 by Kimberly Kagan, providing research and analysis regarding issues of defense and foreign affairs. It has produced reports on the Syrian War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War, "focusing on military operations, enemy threats, and political trends in diverse conflict zones". It currently publishes daily reports on the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: ISW was founded in response to the stagnation of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, with core funding provided by a group of defense contractors. According to a mission statement on its website, ISW aims to provide "real-time, government-independent, and open-source analysis of ongoing military operations and insurgent attacks". ISW currently operates as a nonprofit organization, supported in part by contributions from defense contractors including General Dynamics, DynCorp, and previously, Raytheon. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: On May 25, 2010, Kagan participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill focusing on Iraq's political crisis that included remarks from the Ambassador of Iraq Samir Sumaidaie and Kenneth Pollack, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Kagan also participated in a Brookings Institution event entitled "Prospects for Afghanistan's Future: Assessing the Outcome of the Afghan Presidential Election" alongside Michael O'Hanlon. Kagan participated formally on the Joint Campaign Plan Assessment Team for Multi-National Force – Iraq U.S. Mission – Iraq in October 2008, and as part of the Civilian Advisory Team for the CENTCOM strategic review in January 2009. Kagan served in Kabul as a member of General Stanley McChrystal's strategic assessment team, composed of civilian experts, during his strategic review in June and July 2009. She returned to Afghanistan in the summer of 2010 to assist General David Petraeus with key transition tasks following his assumption of command in Afghanistan. Kagan also serves on the Academic Advisory Board at the Afghanistan-Pakistan Center of Excellence at CENTCOM.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: ISW criticized both the Obama and Trump administration policies to the Syrian conflict, advocating a more hawkish approach. In 2013, Kagan called for arms and equipment to be supplied to "moderate" rebels, with the hope that a state "friendly to the United States [would emerge] in the wake of Assad." In 2017, ISW analyst Christopher Kozak praised president Donald Trump for the Shayrat missile strike but advocated further attacks, stating that "deterrence is a persistent condition, not a one hour strike package." In 2018, ISW analyst Jennifer Cafarella published an article calling for the use of offensive military force against the Assad government.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: The ISW board includes General Jack Keane, Kimberly Kagan, former US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft, William Kristol, former US Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Kevin Mandia, Jack D. McCarthy, Jr., Bruce Mosler, General David Petraeus, Warren Phillips, and William Roberti. Previous and current members of the ISW's corporate council include Raytheon, Microsoft, Palantir, General Motors, General Dynamics, and Kirkland & Ellis.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: ISW research is divided into three main categories: the Iraq Project, the Afghanistan Project, and the Middle East Security Project.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: The ISW's Afghanistan Project monitors and analyzes the effectiveness of Afghan and Coalition operations to disrupt enemy networks and secure the population, while also evaluating the results of Afghanistan's 2010 Presidential election.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: The Afghanistan Project remains focused on the main enemy groups in Afghanistan, specifically: the Quetta Shura Taliban, the Haqqani network, and Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin. Specific attention is paid to understanding the ethnic, tribal, and political dynamics within these areas and how these factors are manipulated by the enemy and misunderstood by the Coalition.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: In 2010, ISW researchers testified before the United States Congress in regards to understanding the problems of corruption and use of local powerbrokers in ISAF's Afghanistan strategy.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: The Iraq Project at the ISW produces fully documented reports that monitor and analyze the changing security and political dynamics within Iraq. Since the end of military operations in Iraq and after a general withdrawal of US forces there, ISW now focuses its research on the security and political dynamic now taking place there.


title: Institute for the Study of War

text: ISW president Kagan was noted for her support of "the Surge" strategy in Iraq and argued for a restructured American military strategy more generally. "The Surge: The Untold Story", co-produced by ISW provides a historical account of U.S. military operations in Iraq during the Surge of forces during 2007 and 2008. As a documentary, it offers audiences a look into the story of the Surge in Iraq, as told by U.S. military commanders and diplomats as well as Iraqis.