South Korea held its first free presidential election under a revised democratic constitution in 1987, with former South Korean Army general ROH Tae-woo winning a close race. PARK was assassinated in 1979, and subsequent years were marked by political turmoil and continued authoritarian rule as the country's pro-democracy movement grew. During his regime from 1961 to 1979, South Korea achieved rapid economic growth, with per capita income rising to roughly 17 times the level of North Korea in 1979. PARK Chung-hee took over leadership of the country in a 1961 coup. A 1953 armistice split the Peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel. During the Korean War (1950-53), US troops and UN forces fought alongside ROK soldiers to defend South Korea from a North Korean invasion supported by communist China and the Soviet Union. After World War II, a democratic government (Republic of Korea, ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean Peninsula while a communist-style government was installed in the north (North Korea aka Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK). Korea regained its independence following Japan's surrender to the US and its allies in 1945. In 1910, Tokyo formally annexed the entire Peninsula. Following the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), Korea was occupied by Imperial Japan. Korea became the object of intense imperialistic rivalry between the Chinese (its traditional benefactor), Japanese, and Russian empires in the latter half of the 19th and early 20 th centuries. Following the collapse of Silla in the 9 th century, Korea was unified under the Koryo (Goryeo 918-1392) and the Chosen (Joseon 1392-1910) dynasties. However, Silla allied with the Chinese to create the first unified Korean state in the late 7 th century (688). By the 5 th century A.D., Kogoryo emerged as the most powerful, with control over much of the Peninsula, as well as part of Manchuria (modern-day northeast China). Over the subsequent centuries, three main kingdoms - Kogoryo, Paekche, and Silla - were established on the Peninsula. The first recorded kingdom (Choson) on the Korean Peninsula dates from approximately 2300 B.C.
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