Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

In 1910 Japan annexed Korea, installing a harsh rule over its people. During the 1930’s an independence movement arose. Led from abroad by Syngman Rhee, who attended Harvard University at the time, it started a fire in a man that would continue to grow as time passed. With the principles of the Atlantic Charter, the United States and the USSR agreed to give Korea its independence. At Potsdam, the U.S. and the USSR divided Korea at the 38th parallel. Soon after, Kim Il Sung came down with Soviet troops and the Korean Communist Party and took over the North. The United Nations arranged elections in 1948 for the South and Syngman Rhee was elected as the first President of the Republic of Korea. In 1949 NSC proposed the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from South Korea and the USSR from the North. This was finally accomplished in 1949. Afterwards Korea was no longer considered a part of the U.S. defense perimeter. Suspicions arose that the Soviets and North Korea were planning to invade the South. On June 25, 1950 the suspicions were correct and North Korea invades the South. During this time the UN voted 9-0 for North Korean forces to withdraw, however, the USSR was not present during the vote. The USSR then claimed