February 21, 2012: Kim Jong-Il dies of pancreatic cancer. Jong-il named his youngest son, Kim Jong-un as his successor. This didn’t sit well with many people and a power struggle ensued. Kim Jong-il’s brother in-law, Jang Song-taek started to try and take power as did Kim Jong Il’s youngest son, Jong Un, who had won the hearts and minds of the people. The West didn’t catch onto the power struggles until late in 2012, when the military started moving around a lot more than normal. The rest of the winter passed without much notice, however on 23 March, 2013 open civil war began.
The Western powers watched with hesitation as the Northern Korean peninsula became engulfed in a bloody civil war. The war lasted until July 13th, 2013 when the West started an aggressive move: they attacked North Korea. With the Chinese backing North Korea and the Koreans scattered, the next two years see some of the bloodiest fighting the world has seen. Both the Chinese and the West realized that a protracted war wouldn’t be good for either of them. After four months of negotiating, the West and the Chinese agreed to terms. On September 30, 2015, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ceased to exist. North of the 38th Parallel became part of China and the Western powers retreated.
