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[[Image:Goryeo Buddhist painting.jpg|thumb|right|Tranh cuộn ''Phật A Di Đà và Tám vị Bồ Tát'', thế kỷ 14.]]
The '''history of Korea''' stretches from [[Lower Paleolithic]] times to the present.<ref>Byeon (1999), p. 27. Byeon explains that the lower layers of [[Seokjangni]] and other sites have been dated to 600,000-500,000 BC, and that the discovery of yet older layers at a site in [[Damyang County]] have led to the hypothesis that [[hominid]] habitation of Korea began around 700,000 BCE.</ref> The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BCE, and the [[Neolithic]] period began before 6000 BCE, followed by that [[Bronze Age]] around 2500 BCE. The [[Gojoseon]] (Old Joseon) kingdom was founded in 2333 BCE, eventually stretching from the peninsula to much of Manchuria.<ref>[http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/korea/history.htm Go-Choson]</ref> By 3rd Century BCE, it disintegrated into many successor states.
In the early [[Common Era]], the [[Three Kingdoms of Korea|Three Kingdoms]] ([[Goguryeo]], [[Silla]], and [[Baekje]]) conquered other successor states of Gojoseon and came to dominate the peninsula and much of Manchuria. During this period, Koreans played an important role as a transmitter of cultural advances, aiding the formation of early Japanese culture and politics.
The Korean kingdoms competed with each other both economically and militarily. While Goguryeo and Baekje were more powerful for much of the era, defeating Chinese invasions several times, Silla's power gradually extended across Korea and it eventually established the first unified state to cover most of Korean peninsula by 676.
This period is often called [[Unified Silla]]. Soon after the fall of Goguryeo however, former Goguryeo general [[Dae Joyeong]] led a group of Koreans to eastern Manchuria and founded [[Balhae]] (698 AD - 926 AD) as the successor to Goguryeo. After Balhae was defeated in 926, much of its people led by the Crown Prince was absorbed into [[Goryeo]].
[[Image:Goryeo Celadon .jpg|thumb|left|[[Cheongja ùnhak sanggam mun maebyeong]], the 68th national treasure of Korea.]]
Unified Silla itself fell apart in the late 9th century, giving way to the tumultuous [[Later Three Kingdoms of Korea|Later Three Kingdoms period]] (892-936), which ended with the establishment of the [[Goryeo]] Dynasty. During the Goryeo period, laws were codified, a civil service system was introduced, and [[Buddhism]] flourished. In 1238, the [[Mongolian Empire]] [[Mongol invasions of Korea|invaded]] and after nearly thirty years of war, the two sides signed a peace treaty.
In 1392, the general [[Taejo of Joseon|Yi Seong-gye]] established the [[Joseon Dynasty]] (1392-1910) after a coup. King [[Sejong the Great of Joseon|Sejong the Great]] (1418-1450) promulgated [[Hangul]], the Korean alphabet, as an alternative to Chinese characters which were previously the only system of writing. This period saw various other cultural and technological advances. Between 1592-1598, [[Imjin War|Japan invaded]] Korea, but was eventually repelled with the efforts by the Navy led by Admiral [[Yi Sun-sin]], resistance armies, and Chinese aid. In the 1620s and 1630s, Joseon suffered invasions by the [[Manchu]] [[Qing Dynasty]].
Beginning in the 1870s, Japan began to force Korea out of China's sphere of influence into its own. In 1895, [[Empress Myeongseong of Korea]] was assassinated by Japanese agents.<ref>[http://www.kimsoft.com/2002/jp-rape.htm Murder of Empress Myeongseong]</ref> In 1905, Japan forced Korea to sign the ''[[Eulsa Treaty]]'' making Korea a protectorate, and in 1910 [[Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty|annexed Korea]], although neither is considered to be legally valid.<ref>[http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200108/30/200108300144080739900090809081.html Forced Annexation]</ref> Korean resistance to the Japanese occupation was manifested in the massive nonviolent [[March 1st Movement]] of 1919. Thereafter the [[Korean independence movement]], coordinated by the [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea]] in exile, was largely active in neighboring Manchuria, China and [[Siberia]].
With the defeat of Japan in 1945, the [[United Nations]] developed plans for a trusteeship administration by the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]], but the plan was soon abandoned. In 1948, new governments were established, the democratic [[South Korea]] and Communist [[North Korea]] divided at the 38th parallel. The unresolved tensions of the division surfaced in the Korean war of 1950, when North Korea invaded South Korea.
==Thời Tiền sử==
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