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Conflict and Tension in Asia, 1950–1975

The causes of the Korean War

  • 3 things to know
  • Paper 1 section B

Overview

Japan's rule, the division at the 38th Parallel, Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee, the communist victory in China, why the North attacked in 1950, containment, and the Security Council vote.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Numbers

How did Korea come to be divided between two rival governments by 1948?

Numbers

Which country had ruled Korea as a colony from 1910 until 1945?

Key term

Who became leader of communist North Korea in 1948?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Which country had ruled Korea as a colony from 1910 until 1945?

    Model answer

    Japan, and its defeat in 1945 left Korean nationalists determined to govern a single independent country of their own.

  2. 2

    How was Korea split when Japanese forces surrendered in 1945?

    Model answer

    Soviet troops took the surrender north of the 38th Parallel and American troops south of it, and that temporary line hardened into a border.

  3. 3

    Who became leader of communist North Korea in 1948?

    Model answer

    Kim Il Sung, a former guerrilla fighter against the Japanese, backed by Stalin.

  4. 4

    Who led the anti-communist government of South Korea from 1948?

    Model answer

    Syngman Rhee, an authoritarian nationalist supported by the USA.

  5. 5

    What did Kim Il Sung and Syngman Rhee both claim, despite being bitter enemies?

    Model answer

    Each claimed the right to rule the whole peninsula and wanted the country reunited on his own terms.

  6. 6

    What happened in China in 1949 that alarmed American opinion?

    Model answer

    Mao Zedong's communists won the civil war and founded the People's Republic, so the largest country in Asia was now communist.

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