The Korean Conflict

Before World War II,  Korea had a rich and diverse history, having been ruled by a variety of rulers.  Prior to and during World War II, occupied and ruled the entirety of .  Following its defeat, was divided into two separate occupied zones sharing the boundary of the 38^th parallel. The process here was quite similar to East and West Berlin. The northern area, or , was administered by the Soviet Union.  The southern area, or , was administered by the .  It was initially the goal of the and the Soviet Union to have become a unified country; however, in the years immediately following World War II, it became apparent that this was not going to happen.  As the Cold War developed in the aftermath of World War II and as two separate and politically, socially and economically diametric nations developed on opposite sides of the 38^th parallel, tensions began to mount between the countries.  These tensions reached a high point in June of 1950.  

It is a commonly held belief that the invasion of by was orchestrated by the Soviet Union.  However, the invasion of the South by the North is now viewed as being entirely the creation of .  As an aside here, the Soviet Union believed that the Korean situation would result in a war, it just happened sooner than they thought it would.  The ruler of the , Syngman Rhee, was becoming increasingly unpopular and this led the Northern Korea ruler, Kim Il Sung, to believe that he would be able to invade and in reunifying the country, quell any opposition to his rule in .