How did the boundaries of peace and the military 38th parallel come about?

Mondo Entertainment Updated on 2024-02-22

On October 25, 1950, the Volunteers crossed the Yalu River with great courage and opened the most special War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in Chinese history. On July 27, 1953, the DPRK, China, and the United States signed a cease-fire agreement consisting of the Korean Armistice Agreement and the Interim Supplementary Agreement to the Armistice Agreement.

Many people believe that the 38th parallel was drawn after the end of the Korean War. In fact, it is not, the division of the 38th parallel is far older than the history of the Korean War, on the contrary, it is precisely because of the division of the 38th parallel that there was the later Korean War.

Historically, the development of the Korean Peninsula is closely related to the Chinese dynasties, in addition to the war, most of the time, Korea is a vassal state of China, until the late Qing Dynasty, due to the poverty and weakness of the Qing Dynasty, the vassal state is unable to maintain, during the Sino-Japanese War, in addition to fighting with the Beiyang Fleet at sea, the Japanese army also sent a landing force to land from the Korean Peninsula, due to the defeat of the Qing army, Korea was also controlled by Japan.

At that time, the Korean Peninsula and even Northeast China were fiercely antagonized by Japan and Russia, until the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the Korean Peninsula was included in Japan's jurisdiction and was completely annexed in 1910.

As early as 1896, Japan and Russia had conspired to carve up Korea, at that time the two sides were not very willing to confront by means of war, so after consultation, Tsarist Russia proposed to divide the Korean Peninsula by the 38 degrees north latitude, which was agreed by the Japanese, which was also the first time on the Korean Peninsula that the 38th parallel appeared, which was a strict military demarcation line, and had no practical significance in geography. It can be said that this division is the result of imperialism's barbaric and rude involvement.

During World War II, Japan adjusted its military deployment, and it was divided by the 38th Parallel, with the part north of the 38th Parallel belonging to the Kwantung Army, and the part south of the 38th Parallel belonging to the base camp. Although in view of the possibility of the Soviet Union sending troops to Northeast China, the Japanese base camp considered placing all Japanese troops on the Korean Peninsula under the jurisdiction of the Kwantung Army, and the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army concurrently served as the governor of Korea, but it was opposed by Emperor Hirohito, which also laid a practical foundation for the division of the Korean Peninsula after the war.

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union sent troops to Northeast China and the Kwantung Army for a decisive battle, so after the end of the war, the northern part of the Korean Peninsula was temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Union, and the U.S. military fought the Japanese army in the Pacific.

Due to the long-term fall, in fact, after the collapse of Japanese imperialism, the Korean Peninsula could not form an effective jurisdiction at all, since 1910 Korea fell to the Japanese colony, the local has always been under the oppression of Japan, Japan's Korean governor on the Korean Peninsula, almost as an "emperor" appeared, ruling the local people.

Therefore, after the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union, as two major powers, separately administered Korea, and as the only oppressed country in World War II, Korea, like other Axis powers (Japan and Germany), formed a polarized rule.

In fact, such a concession was unacceptable to the United States at the beginning, and their initial idea was to bypass the Soviet Union and go directly to the Korean Peninsula to surrender, but because after the Soviet Union announced that it would send troops, the United States simply did not have time to send some additional troops to the Korean Peninsula, so the United States hoped to have a plan to buy time for the US military to transfer troops into the Korean Peninsula, and at the same time let the US troops move as far north as possible after landing, so as not to let the Soviet Union be too disgusted.

After the "38th parallel" plan was concocted, the Soviet Union unexpectedly did not oppose it, which surprised the Americans. However, it is worth mentioning that in the surrender plan at that time, although Taiwan also belonged to the south of the 38 ° north latitude line, based on the understanding of one China, the Japanese army in Taiwan had a squadron (Kuomintang army) to surrender. In this way, both sides were happy, and all aspects of the plan seemed to be perfect, but there was only one factor that was not taken into account, and that was the North Korean residents living on the Korean Peninsula.

Whether it is the feudal era or the Japanese era, North Korea has always been the oppressed party, so after the end of the war, it is urgent to establish a ** formed by the Korean people spontaneously to govern, this requirement itself is also reasonable, but due to the negligence of all parties, it eventually led to the division of the north and the south, which is also a thing that the United States and the Soviet Union did not expect later.

After the Soviet Union announced its dispatch to Northeast China in August 1945, there was a special unit in the Soviet Far East Front, which was composed of Koreans, who were the North Korean armed forces that insisted on guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines during the Japanese occupation. With the help of the Soviet Union, the people of northern Korea spontaneously established the first regime, the North Korean People's Council, which, in fact, was supported by the North Korean people on a democratically elected basis.

In the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, due to the influence of "American-style democracy" brought by the Americans, the United States believes that North Korea does not have the ability to establish a separate army, so after MacArthur became the commander of the Far Eastern Front of the United States, he continued to use the local government during the Japanese occupation, which caused great dissatisfaction among the South Korean people.

In fact, Syngman Rhee's formation of the South Korean Provisional **, as early as the 20s has been initially established, but for a long time, are not recognized by all parties, and even their own activities were once stretched thin, until after the victory in World War II, Syngman Rhee was re-raised, because there is no foundation in the country, Syngman Rhee chose to unite with the pro-Japanese faction in South Korea as the object of cooperation, and with the support of the Americans, became the first ** of South Korea.

Although the people of North and South Korea have repeatedly called for peace talks between the two sides and the formation of a joint alliance, especially the North Korean side has repeatedly requested peace talks with Syngman Rhee, but it has never been echoed. Relying on the support of the Americans, Syngman Rhee sought to unify the Korean Peninsula by force, and even hoped that the United States would directly intervene with troops, but in order to avoid the intensification of contradictions with the Soviet Union and trigger the Third World War, the United States chose economic support and provided a large number of first-class equipment.

At 4 a.m. on June 25, 1950, war broke out on the Korean Peninsula, although it was once claimed that it was launched by Syngman Rhee of South Korea with the support of US imperialism, but later with the revelation of the official archives, it was actually the initiative of the North Korean army to suddenly launch an attack on the Rhee puppet group. But it was almost all about to collapse at the touch of a button, and soon the South Korean Defense Forces retreated to the Busan area, and more than 90 percent of the Korean Peninsula was occupied by the Korean People's Army.

In fact, what happened later, we know more clearly, with September 25, 1950, after the US troops landed at Incheon, the situation on the Korean Peninsula suddenly reversed, the front gradually advanced to the Yalu River, more importantly, after the US military intervened in the Korean War, it also sent the Seventh Fleet to blockade the Taiwan Strait, this kind of interference in the affairs of other countries, also caused China's dissatisfaction with the US military, in view of the threat it suffered, on October 25, the Chinese People's Volunteers sent troops to North Korea. With the signing of the armistice agreement between the two sides, the war has come to an end, and in fact the disputes over the Korean Peninsula region have not yet ended.

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