Since around 3000 BC the Korean tribes are united into more or less a state. Legend says that in 2333 BC Koreans are united in the kingdom of Choson. Since the second century BC Korea is under control of Manchuria and from the first century BC China controls the area.By the first century AD, the Korean Peninsula is divided into the kingdoms of Shilla, Koguryo and Paekche. In 668 AD, the Shilla kingdom unifies the peninsula. This feudal state is suceeded in 935 by Koryo.

Korea is occupied by the Mongols between 1231 and 1261, but independence is regained that last year. In the fourteenth century Koryo is restyled into the Kingdom of Choson. In 1637 Choson becomes a puppet state of China.

In 1895 China loses control after the Sino-Japanese war over Choson: Japan takes over. In 1905 Choson becomes a protectorate and in 1910 it is annexed to Japan. Japanese colonial administration is characterized by tight control from Tokyo and ruthless efforts to supplant Korean language and culture. Organized Korean resistance during the colonial era is generally unsuccessful and Japan remains firmly in control of the peninsula until the end of World War II in 1945.

The surrender of Japan in 1945 leads to the immediate division of Korea into two occupation zones, with the United States administering the southern half of the peninsula and the USSR taking over the area to the north of the 38th parallel. A 5-year trusteeship is discussed and a joint USSR-American commission is established. Since no compromize can be found, the United States submit the Korean question in 1947 to the UN General Assembly. Initial hopes for a unified, independent Korea quickly evaporate as the politics of the Cold War and domestic opposition to the trusteeship plan result in the 1948 establishment of two separate nations with diametrically opposed political, economic, and social systems.

In the south part of the peninsula the Republic of Korea is proclaimed, supported by the USA. The northern part becomes, sponsored by the USSR, the People's Democratic Republic of Korea. The DPRK invaded the Republic of Korea in 1950, which resulted into three years of warfare between the DPRK and the United Nations. In the war two million people die. The government of the republic, led by Lee Seung-Man (Syngman Ree), becomes autocratic and oppressive. De jure it remains a democracy, in which Lee's Liberal Party dominates. The opposition unites into the Democratic Party.

Lee has after public pressure in 1960 no choice but to step down. Students have led the people into the first successful democratic revolution in Korea's history. A newly elected parliament elects Yun Po-sun president. He was the candidate of the Democratic Party, that had won a landslide victory at the elections. He appoints Chang Myon as prime minister, but soon after that the party splits into the Sinmindang (New Democratic Party, SMD) of Chang and the (Old) Democrats of Yun. Neither faction is strong enough to fill the gap created by the sudden ouster of the 12-year-old autocratic rule of Lee.

In 1961 Park Chung Hee grabs power in a military coup. It brings a Military Revolutionary Committee to power, and in 1963 Park is elected president. His Democratic Republican Party wins an impressive victory at the parliamentary elections, but the Simmindang can form a parliamentary oppossition. Park is confirmed in the 1967 elections as was the case in 1971. Until 1971 Park imposes some restrictions on members of the press, intellectuals, and opposition politicians, but these groups are permitted to criticize the government and to engage in organizational activities. The presidential and parliamentary elections in 1967 and 1971 are closely contested but won by Park. In 1972 he changes the constitution and establishes a new political order, referred to as the Yushin (Revitalizing Reforms) system. Korea becomes a de facto dictatorship.

The Sinmindang wins a plurality in the 1978 elections, but since one-third of the parliament's members are were government-appointed, the opposition doesn't win get a majority of seats. The new leader of the party, Kim Young Sam, begins his challenge to the government in 1979. That year Park is assassinated by the chief of the Korean CIA and Choi Kyu-hah becomes president. Choi releases Kim Dae Jung, former presidential candidate for the Sinmindang. Government is unstable and under such circumstances, another military leader, Chun Doo Hwan, emerges. In 1980, civilian uprisings in that southern city of Kwangju protesting the new military autocracy are harshly put down by troops, causing a large number of casualties and providing an anti-government issue that was to linger on for years. Chun is subsequently elected president by an electoral college.

From 1980 on political parties begin to organize and political activities are resumed in 1981; martial law is lifted at the same time. Presidential and parliamentary elections are held in 1981 and Chun is re-elected president. The opposition is divided between Kim Young Sam and Kim Dae Jung. In the 1988 elections Roh Tae-woo, another military figure, is elected president. Roh significantly frees up the political system. Roh begins his term of office promising that authoritarian rule will end. Many steps are taken to change not only the appearance of the government but the substance as well. The parliamentary elections of 1988 end with surprising results. Not only is the ruling Democratic Justice Party unable to win a working majority in the Assembly, but Kim Dae-jung's Party for Peace and Democracy became the largest opposition party, with Kim Young Sam's Reunification Democratic Party and Kim Jong-pil's New Democratic Republican Party placing third and fourth respectively. In 1990 the DJP merges with the RDP and the NDRP into the Democratic Liberal Party (MDD) and in 1992 this new party nearly reaches an absolute majority. Presidential elections are held in 1992, which are won by Kim Young Sam. Kim's election returns Korea to the hands of a democratically elected civilian president for the first time since the military coup d'etat of 1961.

Kim's policy concentrates on the fight against corruption. The DLP reaches almost an absolute majority in the 1992 elections, only failing to maintain its majority by a single seat. In 1997 Kim Dae-jung of the centrist Sae Jungchi Kukmin Hoiee (National Congress for New Politics, SJKH) wins the presidential elections. He becomes the 15th president in 1998, the first time a non-conservative heads the country in its 50 years of independence. Kim promises to introduce economic and democratic reforms and improve relations with North Korea. He reorganizes his party into the Minju Dang (Democratic Party, MD). The MD becomes the second party at the parliamentary elections, just after the conservative Hannara Dang (Grand National Party, HD, successor of the MDD), but far before the more conservative Jayu Minju Yonmaeng (United Liberal Democrats, JMY). In 2002 the MD wins the presidential elections for the second time, bringing Roh Moo-hyun to the presidency.