At the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula, which up to that point had been occupied by the Empire of Japan, was divided along the 38th Parallel.[1] To the north, the Soviet Union (USSR) occupied the country, which established itself as a communist state, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea under Kim Il Sung.[2] To the south, the United States (US) occupied the country, establishing the Republic of Korea under an autocratic anti-communist leader, Syngman Rhee.[3] As tensions rose between the US and the USSR, each government in Korea claimed it had sovereignty over the whole country.[2]