Two Koreas: History at a Glance

• After the defeat of the Japanese empire in World War II (1945), Korea was split into two spheres.  The Soviet Union controlled the territory in the North and the Americans controlled the South. 

• In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting the 3-year-long Korean War.

• Since the signing of the Armistice Agreement in 1953, the North and South have been divided with a demilitarized zone stretching 155 miles.

• As world leaders have come and gone, North Korea's Kim dynasty has remained in power.   After withdrawing from the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty in 2003, North Korea has gone on to conducting several nuclear tests, most recently in September 2016.