After the collapse in 1945 of the Japanese empire, which had ruled quite brutally over the whole of Korea since 1910, the Soviet Red Army occupied the north, and the US occupied the south. The Soviets plucked a relatively obscure Korean communist, Kim Il-sung, from an army camp in Vladivostok, and installed him in Pyongyang as the leader of North Korea.
短暂的朝鲜史十分简单。1945年日本帝国覆灭后——1910年以来，日本帝国一直对整个朝鲜半岛实施着残暴统治——苏联红军占领了北部，美国占领了南部。苏联人从符拉迪沃斯托克军营中物色了一个相对无名的朝鲜共产党金日成，在平壤立他为朝鲜领袖。随后，关于他在战争时期的英勇事迹和神化地位蜂拥而出，个人崇拜随之建立。