On August 15, after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender, ending World War II.
Just five days before Japan surrendered, US officials Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel were given the task of delineating the US occupation zone in East Asia. Without consulting any Koreans, they arbitrarily decided to cut Korea roughly in half along the 38th parallel of latitude, ensuring that the capital city of Seoul would be in the American section.
In the end, the US essentially appointed the anti-communist leader Syngman Rhee to rule South Korea. The South declared itself a nation in May of 1948. Rhee was formally installed as the first president in August, and immediately began waging a low-level war against communists and other leftists south of the 38th parallel.
And so, a rushed decision made by junior US government officials in the heat and confusion of World War II's final days has resulted in the seemingly permanent creation of two warring neighbors. More than sixty years and millions of lives later, the accidental division of North and South Korea continues to haunt the world, and the 38th parallel remains arguably the tensest border on Earth.
