Communist North Korea and American-Backed South Korea Form Governments
1946
The 38th parallel became more rigid after 1946, when Kim Il Sung organized a communist government in the north otherwise known as the Democratic People's Republic. Shortly after, nationalist exile Syngman Rhee returned to Korea and set up a rival government system in the southern part of the peninsula, which was the Republic of South Korea. Each government wanted to reunify each section of the peninsula under their own rules. The US and President Truman backed up the Southern ideals. While the North, or the Democratic People’s Republic, was backed up by the communist Soviet Union and China. President Truman and his administration were fearful of North Korea, Soviet Union, and China of the spread of communism not just to the Republic of South Korea but to the rest of Asia as well.
The 38th parallel became more rigid after 1946, when Kim Il Sung organized a communist government in the north otherwise known as the Democratic People's Republic. Shortly after, nationalist exile Syngman Rhee returned to Korea and set up a rival government system in the southern part of the peninsula, which was the Republic of South Korea. Each government wanted to reunify each section of the peninsula under their own rules. The US and President Truman backed up the Southern ideals. While the North, or the Democratic People’s Republic, was backed up by the communist Soviet Union and China. President Truman and his administration were fearful of North Korea, Soviet Union, and China of the spread of communism not just to the Republic of South Korea but to the rest of Asia as well.