History of Korea
After the end of WWII in 1945, the Allies divided the country into a northern area (protected by the Soviets) and a southern area protected (primarily by the United States). In 1948, when the powers failed to agree on the formation of a single government, this partition became the modern states of North and South Korea. The peninsula was divided at the 38th Parallel: the "Republic of Korea" was created in the south, with the backing of the US and Western Europe, and the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" in the north, with the backing of the Soviets and the communist People's Republic of China. The new premier of North Korea, Kim il-Sung, launched the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the country under Communist rule. After immense material and human destruction, the conflict ended with a cease-fire in 1953. The two nations officially remain at war because a peace treaty was never signed. In 1991, both states were accepted into the United Nations.
History of Japan–Korea relations
[[Kim Il-sung]] led a [[Korean independence movement]], which was active in the border areas of China and Russia, particularly in areas with considerable ethnic Korean populations. Kim founded [[North Korea]], and his descendants have still not signed a peace treaty with Japan. The [[Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea]], led by (later) South Korea's first president [[Syngman Rhee]], moved from Shanghai to [[Chongqing]]. Lee lobbied in the United States and was recognized by the South Korean administrator by [[Douglas MacArthur]]. Japanese control of Korea ended on September 9, 1945 when the Japanese [[Governor-General of Korea]] signed the surrender document of the United States in Seoul.