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Feb 9, 2018 · Why Korea was split at the 38th parallel after World War II. By: Sarah Pruitt. Updated: June 25, 2021 | Original: February 9, 2018. copy page link. Print Page. Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.
The division of Korea began on August 15, 1945 when the official announcement of the surrender of Japan was released, thus ending the Pacific Theater of World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders had already been considering the question of Korea's future following Japan's eventual surrender in the war.
Since U.S. policy toward Korea during World War II had aimed to prevent any single power’s domination of Korea, it may be reasonably concluded that the principal reason for the division was to stop the Soviet advance south of the 38th parallel.
The division of Korea into North Korea and South Korea was forced upon the people by external forces, government, and powers that the Korean people had no say in.
The division of Korea into North Korea and South Korea stems from the 1945 Allied victory in World War II, ending Japan's 35-year occupation of Korea.
Korean War, (1950–53) Conflict arising after the post-World War II division of Korea, at latitude 38° N, into North Korea and South Korea. At the end of World War II, Soviet forces accepted the surrender of Japanese forces north of that line, as U.S. forces accepted Japanese surrender south of it.
Jul 18, 2019 · Despite being unified off and on for nearly 1,500 years, the Korean peninsula was divided into North and South as a result of the breakup of the Japanese empire at the end of World War II. The precise location of the division, at the 38th parallel latitude, was chosen by lower-level U.S. diplomatic personnel on an ad hoc basis in 1945.
