Dr RA introduced the Korean liberation from the Japanese colonial rule. Ironically, the day of liberation was also the prelude to the tragedy of national division, because the end of the War was also the beginning of the Cold War. After the Second World War, Korea was divided into two parts along the 38th parallel by the United States of America (USA) and the Soviet Union ostensibly for the occupational purposes.

Dr RA then mentioned that in December 1945, a tripartite meeting was held in Moscow, Russia, between the foreign ministers of the USA, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. At the meeting the three agreed to put Korea under the trusteeship for the period of five years. Although throughout Korea protest movements erupted opposing the decision, it did not take long before the Communist side abruptly changed into supporting the trusteeship. A serious division ensued between the so-called Right and Left over this concrete issue. The division has settled on the peninsula as the two sides respectively established their own governments in 1948, the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the South and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the North.

On 25 June 1950, the Korean War broke out as the North Korean troops with the support of the Soviet Union launched an invasion across the 38th parallel.