In recent years, with the popularity of films such as "King Kong Chuan" and "Chosin Lake," the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea has gradually become the focus of discussion among the masses of the people. Many people have questions, why did the war stop at the "38th Line"? How did this inconspicuous parallel on the map become the focus of dividing the Korean Peninsula? It all starts with the end of the Second World War.
By the mid-1940s, World War II, the worst in history, was coming to an end. The towns and villages of Europe, the vast deserts of North Africa, and the rough seas of the Atlantic Ocean have gradually returned to calm. Small islands in the Pacific and parts of China, the Korean Peninsula and Southeast Asia, while gunfire continues to be fired, the general trend of war has become irreversible. The fascists of Germany, Japan, and Italy are gradually dying! At this time, how to do a good job in the finishing work is the part that several world powers will start to wrestle.
In February 1945, the "big three" of the Anti-Fascist Alliance: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, US President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gathered in the small city of Yalta on the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula to discuss the post-war world pattern by way of a meeting.
However, from the very beginning, the atmosphere of the meeting was rather unfriendly. The main venue of the Yalta Conference was the magnificent Rivacchia Palace, which had long since been looted by the Germans during the war. Although the Soviets took a lot of effort to collect some works of art from all over the world to decorate the façade, it still looked shabby. Churchill, who had always been arrogant, called it "the worst of all the venues." In such an atmosphere, the three parties engaged in fierce debates over the occupation of Germany and Berlin, the Soviet Union's participation in the war with Japan, and the arrangement of the pattern after the world war, and the voice was so loud that it could even be said to be a quarrel. Although everyone knew that a final compromise was inevitable, neither Churchill nor Stalin was willing to give in first.
Watching the two men face each other there, Roosevelt was very steady. When it was time for the evening break, he and Stalin sat down in a warm house and held a small meeting away from Churchill. The success of this small meeting was so fruitful that in the end, the land south of Roosevelt Sakhalin Islands, the entire Kuril Islands, and the right to use the Port of Dalian and Manchuria Railway in China were exchanged for Stalin's promise to send troops to attack Japan.
Roosevelt was known as the "lion and fox combination" and was indeed a high-ranking player in politics. He was well aware of Japan's importance to the United States, and he believed that japan could not be condoned in the same way as Germany, so he directly brought the issue to the Korean Peninsula. He said, "Marshal Stalin, shall we talk about the question of trusteeship of Korea?" Stalin apparently did not consider this in advance and expressed his willingness to listen to Roosevelt's opinion first.
Roosevelt said: "I think it is true that after the liberation of Korea from Japan, it will certainly not be able to maintain an independent government, so it should be jointly entrusted by a representative of the Soviet Union, a representative of the United States, a representative of britain and a representative of China." The only experience we have gained on this issue is in the Philippines, where the people have been ready for self-government for 50 years. In the case of North Korea, the trusteeship period is probably 20 to 30 years. ”
Stalin agreed with Roosevelt, but felt that the trusteeship period should be as short as possible. However, on the question of whether to send troops to station and how to divide the spheres of influence of all sides, they have not formulated a specific strategy. This has also become the biggest source of the seriousness of the North Korean problem in the future.
The next day, Churchill learned what Roosevelt and Stalin had done behind their backs, and they wanted to have a seizure, but considering that Britain was no longer the sun of the year, and its voice in the international arena was far less than before, she closed her mouth. Eventually, the Big Three signed the Yalta Agreement, and Stalin formally decided to use troops against the Japanese army.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union officially declared war on Japan. At the operational meeting, the Soviet chief of staff told marshall, the chief of staff of the U.S. Army, that after the war, the Soviet Union would definitely attack the Korean Peninsula, and would the United States cooperate with its own actions? Marshall replied, "We won't." The U.S. military is not prepared to use troops in Korea until the Japanese mainland is occupied and Japan's military forces in Korea are not destroyed. This answer once again reflects the ambition of the Americans to swallow Japan alone. Truman, who succeeded Roosevelt as President of the United States at this time, once said: "Although the State Department strongly advocates that the entire Japanese forces in Korea should be surrendered by the United States." But God, if we send all our troops to northern Korea, there is no guarantee that we will land in Japan first. He also believed that Japan's mainland policy determined that they would not easily abandon Korea, so they would inevitably have a fierce offensive and defensive war with the Allies. The losses of this battle, of course, were better borne by the Soviets alone.
However, things developed unexpectedly by the United States. After the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, the attack on the Japanese Kwantung Army was like a soup pouring snow, and it took no effort to eliminate hundreds of thousands of enemies. The Soviet 25th Army, under the command of General Chistiyakov, had also broken into Korea and disintegrated the Japanese forces with a devastating offensive. Along the way, they are also invincible. After withstanding the attack of two atomic bombs, Japan surrendered quickly! The United States did not expect that this day would come so quickly and suddenly. At this time, they found that their troops were still near Okinawa, and there was no time to transfer to North Korea. If things continue to develop, I am afraid that by the time the U.S. military arrives on the Korean Peninsula, the Soviets will already occupy all of Korea. In that case, there would be no more place for Americans to touch on this ancient peninsula. Even the Soviet Union would use North Korea as a springboard to compete with the United States for control of the Japanese archipelago!
Truman held an urgent meeting to discuss countermeasures. "A military demarcation line should be drawn in North Korea as soon as possible," he said. Japanese troops stationed in Korea north of the demarcation line were surrendered by the Soviet Union, and those south were surrendered by the United States. This idea was almost the only viable option that could prevent the Soviet Union from monopolizing North Korea at the time, so it was supported by all participants. In this way, Truman decided that the united states department, the war department, and the navy department would carry out the demarcation of the demarcation line.
The three departments of the US State Department, the War Department, and the Navy department immediately formed a coordination committee and held an emergency meeting overnight. Representatives of the State Department expressed their concerns: "For political reasons, the United States accepts the surrender of Japanese troops in North Korea and moves as far north as possible. But God knows where the Red Army will stop in Korea, and you know, there is no force that can make the Russians spit out the places they have occupied. ”
It was a complete nonsense, but it was also the real thought in their minds at the time. At this point, an Army colonel staff officer named Deanrask said: "It is necessary to move as far north as possible, but there is a certain limit to moving north." After all, the Soviets had already come in, and our troops could not be immediately put into Korea. ”
This is also a nonsense, but slightly more useful than the previous sentence. It was indeed a headache to assign the Japanese military to the surrender area in Korea in order to meet both the political demands and the military status quo of the United States at that time, and whether the Soviet Union could accept it.
The meeting was held at 1 a.m., and it was still unable to come up with a perfect plan. Several of the leading figures in attendance yawned, put the documents on the table into their briefcases, and shouted that they would continue the discussion tomorrow. But Assistant Defense Secretary John McIlroy was still in good spirits, waving at Rusk and another young staff officer who was leaving, signaling them and so on. So the two young men returned to their seats.
"There's no point in this going on like this. If our proposal to surrender greatly exceeds our military strength, then it will be difficult for the Soviet Union to accept. But if the plan is delayed, the Soviet Union will go further! Speed is the key to the problem! McIlroy put his thoughts bluntly.
McIlroy continued: "I asked you to stay because I wanted you to come up with a practical solution as soon as possible, and not to dwell on this for too long. Remember, this solution has to be done in 30 minutes! I only give you 30 minutes and we only have 30 minutes! ”
So the two young men, yawning, went into the third lounge next door to the conference hall, spread a map of North Korea on the table, and began to "meet." The two men didn't say that they had been to North Korea, and even heard that it had been a matter of recent days. It's a bit of a stretch to get them to draw that dividing line. After a moment of silence, Rusk said, "We should start as far as we can from the middle to see where it is more appropriate." ”
He pointed to the 38th parallel on the map and said, "I think it would be more appropriate for the United States to accept Japan's surrender south of this line." You see, this line can roughly divide the Korean Peninsula into two halves, with similar areas on both sides. On top of that, Seoul, the capital of North Korea, was included in the fallen areas of the United States. With that, he took out a red pen and stroked it gently on the map.
It was this that artificially divided the Korean Peninsula in half! Who would have thought that two Americans who had never been to North Korea would have divided a complete sovereign state in just 30 minutes and a red pen, and separated the North Korean people for more than 60 years?
The plan was soon presented to the Soviet side. Surprisingly, Stalin, who had always liked to take advantage, did not disagree with this line. In this way, a line of latitude that should have been very simple became the dividing line between South and North Korea. Later, the Americans regretted this, saying that they knew that the Soviets did not object, and that they should move the demarcation line to 39 degrees north latitude.
After Japan's surrender, the North Korean people were immersed in the joy of national liberation, and they did not realize that their country had fallen victim to the political deals of the great powers. The 38th parallel that runs across the middle of the Korean Peninsula is not suitable as a dividing line, and even the Americans themselves admit that the division of the "38th line" is arbitrary. Because its division does not take into account political boundaries, geographical characteristics, and water and land transportation. This line cut off 75 streams, 12 rivers, 181 trails, 104 villages, 15 inter-lane all-weather roads, 8 high-grade roads and 6 north-south railway lines, as well as stretches of mountainous areas. What is more serious is that at both ends of the "38th Line" are two forces with ideological opposition and completely different social systems. It is conceivable that around this line, there will be a storm in the future.