When did both Koreas become Members of the UN?

September 1991

The correct answer is Option 2 - September 1991

Both Koreas finally became Members of the UN on 17 September 1991.

The Korean peninsula was divided into South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) at the end of the Second World War along the 38th Parallel. The Korean War during 1950-53 and dynamics of the Cold War era further intensified the rivalries between the two sides. Both the Koreas finally became Members of the UN on 17 September 1991. Meanwhile, South Korea emerged as a centre of power in Asia. Between the 1960s and the 1980s, it rapidly developed into an economic power, which is termed as “Miracle on the Han River”.