Korea, North and South

Division of the Korean peninsula into two nations, a split that occurred when the Japanese occupation ended at the conclusion of World War II. From 1910 to 1945, Japan controlled the Korean peninsula. During this period, two separate insurgencies formed to oppose the Japanese occupation. In Manchuria, Korean communists launched guerilla attacks against the Japanese military. In Shanghai, an exiled nationalist Korean government, called the Singahoe, also plotted to expel the Japanese. Initially, these two groups [Page 413]coordinated their efforts to defeat the Japanese. However, in 1931, the ideological disagreements between the two groups shattered the alliance, and each group sought independently to liberate Korea.

Their efforts were unsuccessful, although Japan's involvement in World War II raised hope among the insurgents for Korea's eventual freedom. In 1943, as Japanese forces suffered losses across the Pacific, Chinese, British, and U.S. leaders meeting in Cairo agreed to place Korea under a trusteeship, with the goal of preparing the country for independence after the war.

U.S. and Soviet Involvement

The Soviet Union's entry into the Pacific theater threatened this arrangement, however. When the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945, Japan's governor-general ceded power to the Provisional Committee for Korean Independence (PCKI). Soviet troops marched into Pyongyang, becoming the first Allied forces to occupy the peninsula. The Soviets agreed to recognize the PCKI as Korea's official government on the condition that communists are appointed to fill half the committee's seats. The PCKI readily accepted the Soviet Union's demand, and assumed power under the title of the People's Republic of Korea (PRK).

The United States, however, did not accept this state of affairs. On September 8, 1945, American forces entered the city of Seoul in the central part of Korea. U.S. Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, abiding by the Cairo agreement, established the United States Military Government in Korea (USMGIK) and denied recognition to all national groups, including the PRK. In response, Soviet representatives created the Five Provinces Administrative Bureau, a fledgling government for the area that eventually became North Korea and existed outside the influence of the USMGIK.

To resolve the situation, the United States and the Soviet Union formed the Joint American-Soviet Commission. However, in May 1946, the commission dissolved without achieving a compromise. Worried that the Korean peninsula faced a permanent division, the newly chartered United Nations established a commission in November 1947 to oversee the movement toward Korean independence.

A Divided Korea

Even as the UN commission worked on a resolution, however, the division in Korea became irreversible.

The North Korean Communist Party, under the leadership of Kim Il Sung, quickly gained control of the PRK and placed it under the trusteeship of the Soviet Union. With Soviet support, Kim Il Sung formed an army and instituted his Twenty Point Program to control the economy. On September 9, 1948, he proclaimed the existence of the independent Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea).

An indigenous government had also formed in the south. Under the guidance of the USMGIK, a National Assembly met in May 1948 and elected a president—Syngman Rhee. On August 15, several weeks before Kim's proclamation of the Democratic People's Republic, Syngman Rhee announced the formation of the Republic of Korea, generally known as South Korea. The new South Korean government, strongly backed by the United States, denounced the formation of a North Korean state. In this respect, the Korean peninsula quickly became an early venue for the Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union.

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