How The USA and USSR Divided Korea in 1945

Join us as we unfold the post-WW2 history of Korea that resulted in political escalation and eventually a military conflict in 1950. Stay tuned for the remaining parts of this mini-series!

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Hosted by: Indy Neidel
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Jake McCluskey
Written by: James Newman
Research by: James Newman
Editing and color grading by: Simon J. James
Artwork by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Simon J. James & Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by:
Simon J. James
Mikołaj Uchman
Julius Jääskeläinen

Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound.

A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.

[TheKoreanWarbyIndyNeidell]

This special was only possible thanks to the TimeGhost Army, their dedication is what fuels everything we do here at TimeGhost.

[joeevans]

‘I’ve got 500 years of history to cover’ even time ghost couldn’t do it in real time

[rukysgream]

I lived in Korea for 5 years. One of the craziest things was going to historic sites and reading that they'd been originally built hundreds of years ago, but essentially zero original structures ever existed. Every temple that had been there for hundreds of years had been burned down multiple times (usually by the Japanese), and any temple you see now was probably completely rebuilt in the 1970s.

[colinmerritt]

Indy: *holds up pigeon to ear* Hello? Yeah...what do you mean the French didn't show? But..OK. OK. *releases pigeon, it flies off-camera*

May 4, 1337. The Hundred Years War begins.

[jameswolf]

Trivia time: the first Medals of Honor awarded for heroism against a foreign foe were given to Marines and sailors for the 1871 Korean Expedition.

[L.J.Kommer]

I think that was the shortest amount of time I've ever heard Indy talk about WW2.

[georgesconyers]

I love how the US has been ideologically consistent in using parallels for border decisions.

"Straight line?"

"Straight line."

[neilwilson]

Wait a minute, I'm just gonna go and catch up on the WW2 channel.... oh boy...and the Great War channel.... I'll be back in 11 years guys.

[Warmaster_]

Indy and the team giving us a better overview of the history of korea then the History Channel

[shawnr]

Thank you for the lesson.

In the late 1980s one of our units KATUSAs had studied to be an English teacher. He had to complete his conscription before going on to civilian teaching.

He talked about how devastating the destruction of the Korean language by the Japanese was.

Even into the 1980s the Korean language had not recovered.
Another issue was the borrowing of words from American English spoken by the forces stationed there.

[mysticfall_xc]

Probably unimportant trivia, but I feel it's worth commenting on it since Indy keeps mentioning it - it's not entirely correct that Syngman Rhee "changed his name". As I commented in previous videos, "Syngman Rhee" is just the way many, if not most, Koreans write their name in English, i.e. romanising the letters and swapping the family and first names.

I searched it up today, and it looks like he might be one of the first Koreans who used this practice, which seems to be what gave Indy a wrong impression that he actually changed his name. Still, using a romanised form of one's name is something different from changing the name.

I know I'm just nitpicking here, but I couldn't resist since the supposed name change keeps being mentioned in this series.

[flipvdfluitketel]

11:35 A landing on incheon? It's like poetry, it rhymes

[RicketyG]

2:40 It should also be noted that Theodore Roosevelt helped negotiate the peace treaty between Russia and Japan to end the Russo-Japanese War, and one of the terms he allowed was for Japan to annex Korea.

[jpsaarin]

I honestly love how you guys have made this series. On to follow the action week by week is a great idea. But then throw these special episodes for the background story are just perfect!

[죽은_시민의_사회]

This was a very accurate overview, though I'm surprised you didn't mention the KPG's assasinations of Japanese officials in Shanghai in the 1930s- they were instrumental in securing the support of the Kuomintang and led Chiang-Kai Shek to advocate strongly for Korean independence in meetings with other allied leaders.

[qwertywatcher]

I've been watching you guys for years and I just want to thank you for your work.
I haven't posted before but this new series is also great and the same level of quality.
So thank you all the way from Spain. You should be shown weekly in schools around the world.

[rossstewart]

My grandpa was in the navy during WW2, he was stationed at treasure island in San Francisco as part of naval intelligence. He said he was part of the group that figured out who to make the leader of South Korea which was interesting to me after spending a lovely year there in the late 90s in Uijeongbu.

[xanthespace]

Considering from what I've read about Korean independence efforts (the People's Republic and US-approved persecution of the People's Committees) and the way the occupation authorities ran the north and south, I'm pretty convinced that Stalin was wrong to agree to the partition and it would've likely been better for Korea in the long-run for it to not happen.

Which is weird to say, because I normally hate Stalin. Like, unless I'm missing something? Kim Il-Sung was only put in charge of the north after local leaders in Pyongyang protested foreigners splitting their country in half, and then the war helped him entrench his power. Not to mention that in general there were conservative voices in the northern People's Committees as well – which the Soviets allowed to operate.

Two rash decisions in Washington and Moscow screw up the peninsula for decades onwards. Tragic

[samr]

Visiting Seoul you can still see Japanese bullet and artillery holes in the walls of some palaces. It really is one of the most beautiful and historic cities, that everyone should visit if they get the chance. The Korean War museum there is also excellent.

[TheHylianBatman]

These documentaries going into the history of before the war are always my favorite!