Korea

**Korea**, officially the **United Republic of Korea**, is a state in Asia, bordering China and Russia to the north and the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan along its west, south and east, giving it close maritime borders with Japan.

## History

### Reunification

*See Full Article: Korean Crisis*

In January 2019, the leaders of the Shanghai Pact met in Astrakhan, Russia to discuss strategies to extend their strategic reach. They eventually decided to try and break South Korea off from American influence by moving towards a unified Korea. At the subsequent Shanghai Conference in February, South Korea agreed to invest in the North and the Shanghai Pact leaders agreed to assist in forming a Korean Confederation.

The South Korean Ambassador to China notified President Xi Jinping that Seoul was interested in ascending to the Shanghai Pact in order dissuade a Northern attack. In March, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un suggested a quasi-confederation in which the North retained control over its current territory and the movement of people would be restricted.

In August, Russian President Vladimir Putin began plotting to spark a war between the USA and North Korea by pushing Pyongyang into launching a limited nuclear attack against the continental United States. This plot was uncovered by both South Korean and Chinese intelligence services who plotted to quickly assassinate Kim Jong-un. On 4 September, North Korean intelligence assets in cooperation with Seoul and Beijing poisoned Kim Jong-un, while making the death appear to be a heart attack. The North Korean military took control of the country.

On 18 September, the two Koreas agreed to reunification under the Treaty of Seoul becoming the United Republic of Korea. Seoul became the capital of the United Korean nation and the entire north agreed to initiate free market reforms and open to South Korean and other foreign investment. The armies of the two Koreas merged into the United Korean Army with officers from both the ROK Army and the KPA retaining their current ranks leading to a lot of staunchly anti-American former North Korean generals holding high positions in the Korean Army. However, Korea restricted the movement of ordinary former North Koreans into former South Korea to focus on building up the northern half of the now unified country.

Anti-American riots broke out after U.S. President Hillary Clinton threatened sanctions against Korea over its inheritance of the north's nuclear arsenal. Korea demanded the withdrawal of all U.S. Military forces from Korea. After a Chinese mediated agreement that gave American forces more time to withdraw their heavy equipment, the last American troops and thousands of American civilians left Korea on November 29th, 2019.

On December 31st, 2019, Korea joined the Shanghai Pact.

### Asian Integration

China Railways and its Korean counterpart completed a HSR line linking Seoul to the Chinese HSR network in the early 2020s and by extension the Pan-Asian High Speed Rail System panning the Eurasian landmass. Korean exports to China rapidly expanding middle class surged while the north provided abundant cheap labor and natural resources for Korean industry allowing Korea to average over 4% GDP growth through the 2020s.

Korean engineers worked with their Chinese and Taiwanese counterparts to achieve technological breakthroughs in the 2020s that dramatically reduced the costs and greatly increased the efficiency of solar power and other renewables. Seoul expanded solar as well as off shore wind and tidal generation as part of its plans to gradually transition towards a carbon-free economy by 2050.

During the 2030s, maglev lines linked Korean cities to each other and many major Chinese cities at speeds of over 400+ mph promoting Asian economic integration.

### Internal Integration

On the tenth anniversary of the unification of the Korean peninsula on September 18th, 2029, **Korea** decided to ease travel restrictions between its northern and southern halves due to the rapid economic development of the north. Korea became a more cohesive nation. Companies from southern Korea had invested heavily in the northern half of the Korean peninsula for its cheap labor and abundant natural resources including rare earth metals.

## Government and Politics

### Administrative Divisions

**Korea** is divided into two areas, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Each half of **Korea** is subdivided into provinces. Koreans need a permit to cross the former DMZ between the two Koreas. Koreans from the south are generally free to visit and invest in the north but it is much harder for northerners to visit the south.

**Korea** agreed to review the rules for travel between the two halves of the country every ten years during the Treaty of Seoul in 2019.

### Foreign Relations

China is the most important foreign political ally and economic partner for **Korea**.

Korea also has close ties with Russia and the United Islamic Republic and strong trade ties with the nations of Europe.

**Korea** has frosty relations with Japan due to Tokyo's occupation of Korea in the early 20th century and use of Korean women as sex slaves during World War II.

Although South Korea had been a close American ally, Korea was bitter over the United States's opposition to Korean reunification. Korea also inherited a lot of anti-Americanism from former North Korean generals in the United Korean Army.

After becoming U.S. President in 2025, Joseph P. Kennedy fully normalized relations with Korea, causing most Koreans including staunchly conservative former North Koreans to begin viewing the United States positively again.

## Economy

**Korea** is an advanced industrial economy highly integrated into the pan-Asian trade network established by China.

Firms from southern Korea took advantage of cheap labor and abundant natural resources in northern Korea to expand production.

By the 2020s, Korean manufacturing giants such as Samsung had an almost unlimited export market in the huge and rapidly growing middle class of China.