Download MINISERIES ON MODERN KOREAN HISTORY (10) Series 10

MINISERIES ON MODERN KOREAN HISTORY (10)
Moo-Young Han, Editor-in-Chief
This miniseries is archived in the Korean-American Forum (KAF) section of the
SKAS website (www.skas.org).
The Korean peninsula as a single Korea came to a crushing end in 1945 and from then
on the modern history of the Korean peninsula would have to be split into two separate
histories, one for the North Korea and another one for the South. The two separate
Koreas developed along entirely different political, economic and cultural paths and after
70 years since the division along the 38th parallel they developed into two almost entirely
different countries. Hence the year 1945 marks the natural point to conclude this
series on the history of modern Korea as a single country.
Series 10. Division of Korea
Cairo Declaration of 1943
On December of 1943, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Chiang Kaishek declared the rough outline of what the Allies’ plan was for the Northeast
Asia after Japan. In particular they focused on Manchuria, Formosa, and Korea.
That was the first time what to do with Korea after the war was discussed. They
agreed with Roosevelt’s plan to place Korea under trusteeship for 20-30 years
with China, the United States and possibly one or two other countries. Britain
was not particularly interested in Korea. Stalin did not attend the Cairo
conference since the Soviet was still honoring a 5 years neutrality pact with
Japan (which it broke when it declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945.)
August 1945, the Month That Changed the Course of History
August 6, 1945
After the hard and bloody battle to overtake the islands of Okinawa, Japan, the
United States demanded unconditional surrender by Japan, but Japanese
military government held out for a conditional surrender with demands for the
protection of its emperor.
In the morning of August 6, 1945, at exactly 8:45 am, the United States dropped
the first nuclear bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The bomb was a uranium based
fission bomb nicknamed Little Boy and the United States demanded an
unconditional surrender within 16 hours. Japan did not yet respond to the
ultimatum.
The scale model showing the exact point of explosion (latitude, longitude and
altitude) of the Little Boy bomb over the city center, in the lobby of the Hiroshima
Bomb Museum, Hiroshima, Japan
August 8, 1945
Stalin declared war on Japan on August 8, 1945 and quickly and easily occupied
all of Manchuria and the extreme northeast corner of Korean peninsula where all
three countries, China, Siberia, and Korea, share common border.
It is important to note that the Soviets could have easily occupied the entire
Korean peninsula in a matter of a day or two if they wanted to! United States
forces were at that time still bogged down in Okinawa and were in no condition to
come to Korea for another few weeks. The entire Korean peninsula overrun by
the Soviets were a real possibility.
August 9, 1945
In order to convince Japanese leaders exactly what they are faced with, the
United States dropped the second nuclear bomb on the city of Nagasaki, Japan.
The bomb was a plutonium-based fission bomb nicknamed Fat Man.
August 13, 1945
In order to prevent Soviets from occupying all of Korea, United States had
urgently to draw up a line of occupation by the Soviet and American troops.
The assignment fell on two Army colonels Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel to
come up with a proposal for such a line for the occupation. Rusk and Bonesteel
used a National Geographic map to decide on the 38th parallel that split the
peninsula into roughly equal halves but still kept the capital city of Seoul in the
American zone. The proposal of the 38th parallel was purely for the military
purpose to disarm the Japanese forces and was meant to be only temporary.
The proposal did not reflect any geographical, historical, cultural, or political
considerations and was a totally arbitrary line.
President Harry Truman approved the plan and it was sent Stalin on August 13.
Amazingly Stalin immediately accepted the proposal, even though Soviets were
in a position to easily occupy the entire peninsula in a matter of days.
And THAT was how the division of Korea along the 38th parallel came to be.
It should be pointed out that it was Germany and Japan who started the World
War II and while Germany was divided by the Allies, Japan was not. Instead,
Korea who not only did not start the war but in fact fell victim to the Japanese
imperialism ended up getting divided! An ironic twist of history!