1945-08-15 - 1945-08-24

38th Parallel occupation line

38th Parallel, Korea1945-08-15 to 24 · Japanese surrender responsibility is split at the 38th Parallel, setting the occupation-zone baseline

Other events in this phase

Surrender and Occupation13
  1. Soviet seizure of Rajin
  2. Chongjin landing and Soviet entry
  3. Japanese Emperor Hirohito's surrender broadcast
  4. 38th Parallel occupation lineCurrent record
  5. Soviet troops enter Pyongyang
  6. Soviet presence reaches the 38th Parallel
  7. East Asian surrender and occupation order
See all 13

Political transition context

Post-liberation Korean politics was not only celebration of independence; it combined the collapse of Japanese rule, U.S.-Soviet occupation lines, and competing claims by provisional, committee, party, and military-government actors.

The records should be read as a chain linking returning leaders, occupation forces, trusteeship debates, Joint Commission diplomacy, and the failure of coalition politics to state formation and division.

Media

Japanese surrender in southern KoreaVisual recordJapanese surrender in southern KoreaSeptember 9, 1945 surrender ceremony in Seoul, marking the transfer from Japanese colonial rule to U.S. military government.

Source Trail

Primary SourceFRUS · Korea occupation lineOpen sourcePrimary SourceGeneral Order No. 1 · Japanese surrender zonesOpen sourceReferenceBritannica · Division of KoreaOpen sourceOfficial RecordNational Archives of Korea · post-liberation recordsOpen sourceOfficial RecordNational Institute of Korean History · Korean History DatabaseOpen source