Each government hoped to reunify the country under its own rule. Shortly after, nationalist exile Syngman Rhee returned to Korea and set up a rival government in the south –the Republic of Korea (ROK). This line became more rigid after 1946, however, when Kim Il Sung organized a communist government in the north –the Democratic People's Republic. The U.S.-Soviet agreement temporarily divided Korea along the 38th parallel, a latitudinal line that bisected the country this avoided a long-term decision regarding Korea's future. Japanese troops surrendered to the Russians in the north and to the Americans in the south. The United States quickly moved its own troops into southern Korea. In August of 1945, the Soviet Union occupied Korea, which had been under Japan's control since 1910. The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to temporarily divide Korea and oversee the removal of Japanese forces. The division of Korea into two halves had come at the end of World War II. Indeed, Asia proved to be the site of the first major battle waged in the name of containment: the Korean War. Although formulation of the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and the Berlin Airlift suggested that the United States had a particular concern with the spread of communism in Europe, America's policy of containment extended to Asia as well. Fearing that the Soviet Union intended to "export" communism to other nations, America centered its foreign policy on the "containment" of communism, both at home and abroad. While the end of World War II brought peace and prosperity to most Americans, it also created a heightened state of tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Students reflect on the language used in Truman's statement to the American people, compare it with Soviet views of events in Korea, and identify how Truman's words reflect the US policy of containment during the Cold War.įind other teaching activities related to the Cold War on DocsTeach. This photograph shows United Nations forces withdrawing from their positions beyond the 38th parallel as Chinese forces pushed forward.In the activity Containment in Korea: Entering the Korean War, students analyze President Truman's press release of June 27, 1950, announcing that he was committing American forces to a combined United Nations military effort in Korea at the beginning of the Korean War. Once engaged in the conflict, Chinese forces began to inflict serious casualties on UN forces and change the shape of the war. A month later, MacArthur was proven wrong after Chinese forces attacked the Eighth Army. MacArthur dismissed the likelihood of Chinese intervention. However, President Truman and his advisers believed that since North Korea shared its northern border with China, an aggressive surge by MacArthur could cause the Chinese to fear for their own safety and enter the war. MacArthur lobbied to push up into North Korea and crush further aggression. General Douglas MacArthur was named commander of United Nations forces in Korea. By early September 1950, MacArthur's forces had pushed most of the North Korean troops back beyond the 38th parallel. When no withdrawal occurred, the UN passed a subsequent resolution asking member nations to provide military assistance for the removal of all aggressive forces below the 38th parallel. Within hours the United Nations Security Council convened to adopt Resolution 82, which called for the withdrawal of all North Korean forces. The Korean War began on the morning of June 25, 1950, when troops from communist North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and attacked the Republic of Korea. United Nations forces withdraw from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. The original caption for this photograph reads: Crossing the 38th parallel.
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