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It may be hard for people nowadays to believe, but for most of history, Korea was a single country. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, aka North Korea, wasn’t divided until 1945. Prior to 1910, the whole country was open for tourists to visit. However, Japan conquered the country and occupied it for 35 years.
Once Japan released its control of the country as a condition of surrender, the north part was occupied by the Soviet Union and the US occupied the south. This divide has remained to this day and it’s very difficult – and dangerous – to visit the north.
