Editing History of North Korea (section)

== Division of Korea (1945–1950) ==
{{Main|Division of Korea}}
[[File:Welcome Celebration for Red Army in Pyongyang2.JPG|thumb|left|Welcome celebration for the [[Red Army]] in [[Pyongyang]] on 14 October 1945]]
At the [[Tehran Conference]] in November 1943 and the [[Yalta Conference]] in February 1945, the [[Soviet Union]] promised to join its [[Allies of World War II|allies]] in the [[Pacific War]] within three months of [[Victory in Europe Day|victory in Europe]]. On 8 August 1945, after three months to the day, the Soviet Union [[Soviet–Japanese War|declared war on Japan]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Walker | first =  J Samuel | title = Prompt and Utter Destruction: Truman and the Use of Atomic Bombs Against Japan | url = https://archive.org/details/promptutterdestr00walk | url-access = registration | publisher = The University of North Carolina Press | year = 1997 | location = Chapel Hill | page = [https://archive.org/details/promptutterdestr00walk/page/82 82] | isbn = 978-0-8078-2361-3}}</ref> Soviet troops advanced rapidly, and the US government became anxious that they would occupy the whole of Korea. On 10 August, the US government decided to propose the [[38th parallel north|38th parallel]] as the dividing line between a Soviet occupation zone in the north and a US occupation zone in the south. The parallel was chosen as it would place the capital, [[Seoul]], under American control.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seth |first1=Michael J. |title=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |title-link=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |date=16 October 2010 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9780742567177 |publication-date=2010 |page=306}}</ref> To the surprise of the Americans, the Soviet Union immediately accepted the division. The agreement was incorporated into [[General Order No. 1]] (approved on 17 August 1945) for the surrender of Japan.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |author= Hyung Gu Lynn |date= 2007 |title= Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas since 1989 |publisher= Zed Books |page=18}}</ref> The division placed sixteen million Koreans in the American zone and nine million in the Soviet zone.<ref name="Buzo 2002">{{cite book|title=The Making of Modern Korea|last=Buzo|first=Adrian|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-23749-9|location=London|page=53}}</ref>

Soviet forces began amphibious landings in Korea by 14 August and rapidly took over the northeast, and on 16 August they landed at [[Wonsan]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Seth |first1=Michael J. |title=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |title-link=A History of Korea: From Antiquity to the Present |date=16 October 2010 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9780742567177 |publication-date=2010 |page=86}}</ref> On 24 August, the Red Army reached [[Pyongyang]].<ref name="auto"/> US forces did not arrive in the south until 8 September.<ref name="Buzo 2002"/>

Throughout August 1945, People's Committees sprang up across Korea, affiliated with the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence, which in September founded the [[People's Republic of Korea]]. When Soviet troops entered Pyongyang, they found a local People's Committee established there, led by veteran Christian nationalist [[Cho Man-sik]].<ref>{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |pages=54–57}}</ref> Unlike their American counterparts, the Soviet authorities recognized and worked with the People's Committees.<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey | url = https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/105 | url-access = registration | last = Robinson | first = Michael E | year = 2007 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | location = Honolulu | isbn = 978-0-8248-3174-5 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/105 105–107] }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History| last = Cumings| first = Bruce| author-link = Bruce Cumings| year = 2005| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-393-32702-1 |pages=227–228}}</ref> By some accounts, Cho Man-sik was the Soviet government's first choice to lead North Korea.<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea| last = Bluth | first = Christoph | year = 2008| publisher = Polity Press| location = Cambridge| isbn = 978-07456-3357-2 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Jager | first = Sheila Miyoshi |author-link=Sheila Miyoshi Jager | title = Brothers at War – The Unending Conflict in Korea | year = 2013 | publisher = Profile Books | location = London | isbn = 978-1-84668-067-0|page=23}}</ref>

On 19 September, [[Kim Il Sung]] and 66 other Korean Red Army officers arrived in Wonsan. They had fought the Japanese in [[Manchuria]] in the 1930s but had lived in the USSR and trained in the Red Army since 1941.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |page=56}}</ref> On 14 October, Soviet authorities introduced Kim to the North Korean public as a guerrilla hero.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In December 1945, at the [[Moscow Conference (1945)|Moscow Conference]], the Soviet Union agreed to a US proposal for a [[United Nations Trust Territories|trusteeship]] over Korea for up to five years in the lead-up to independence. Most Koreans demanded independence immediately, but Kim and the other Communists supported the trusteeship under pressure from the Soviet government. [[Cho Man-sik]] opposed the proposal at a public meeting on 4 January 1946, and disappeared into house arrest.<ref>{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |page=59}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History| last = Cumings| first = Bruce| author-link = Bruce Cumings| year = 2005| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-393-32702-1 |pages=187–190}}</ref> On 8 February 1946, the People's Committees were reorganized as Interim People's Committees dominated by Communists.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |page=60}}</ref> The new regime instituted popular policies of land redistribution, industry nationalization, labor law reform, and equality for women.<ref>{{cite book| title = Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey | url = https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi | url-access = registration | last = Robinson | first = Michael E | year = 2007 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press |  location = Honolulu | isbn = 978-0-8248-3174-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/107 107]}}</ref>

Meanwhile, existing Communist groups were reconstituted as a party under Kim Il Sung's leadership. On 18 December 1945, local Communist Party committees were combined into the North Korean Communist Party.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> In August 1946, this party merged with the [[New People's Party (Korea)|New People's Party]] to form the [[Workers' Party of North Korea]]. In December, a [[Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland|popular front]] led by the Workers' Party dominated elections in the North.<ref name="ReferenceB"/> In 1949, the Workers' Party of North Korea merged with its [[Workers' Party of South Korea|southern counterpart]] to become the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] with Kim as party chairman.<ref>{{cite book| title = Korea's Twentieth-Century Odyssey | url = https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi | url-access = registration | last = Robinson | first = Michael E | year = 2007 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press |  location = Honolulu | isbn = 978-0-8248-3174-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/koreastwentieth00robi/page/148 148]}}</ref>
[[File:허헌 박헌영 홍명희.jpg|thumb|In August 1948, the 'People's Congress' was held in [[Haeju]], [[Hwanghae Province]]. [[Paek Nam-un]], [[Ho Hon]], [[Pak Hon-yong]], [[Hong Myong-hui]]]]

In 1946, a sweeping series of laws transformed North Korea on Soviet-style Communist lines. The "land to the tiller" reform redistributed the bulk of agricultural land to the poor and landless peasant population, effectively breaking the power of the landed class.<ref>Charles K. Armstrong, The North Korean Revolution, 1945–1950 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press), 71–86.</ref> This was followed by a "Labor Law", a "Sexual Equality Law", and a "Nationalisation of Industry, Transport, Communications and Banks Law".<ref name="auto1">{{cite book | title = Korea since 1850 | last1 = Lone |  first1 = Stewart| last2 = McCormack | first2 = Gavan | author-link2 = Gavan McCormack | publisher = Longman Cheshire | location = Melbourne | year = 1993 | page=184 }}</ref>

Kim established the [[Korean People's Army]] (KPA) aligned with the Communists, formed from a cadre of guerrillas and former soldiers who had gained combat experience in battles against the Japanese and later [[Nationalist Chinese]] troops. From their ranks, using Soviet advisers and equipment, Kim constructed a large army skilled in infiltration tactics and guerrilla warfare. Before the outbreak of the Korean War, [[Joseph Stalin]] equipped the KPA with modern medium tanks, trucks, artillery, and small arms. Kim also formed an air force, equipped at first with ex-Soviet propeller-driven fighter and attack aircraft. Later, North Korean pilot candidates were sent to the Soviet Union and China to train in [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15|MiG-15]] jet aircraft at secret bases.<ref>Blair, Clay, ''The Forgotten War: America in Korea'', [[Naval Institute Press]] (2003).</ref>

=== Establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ===
[[File:1948 김일성과 김구.jpg|thumb|right|Kim Il Sung with [[Kim Ku]] in 1948]]

As negotiations with the Soviet Union on the future of Korea failed to make progress, the US took the issue to the [[United Nations]] in September 1947. In response, the UN established [[UNTCOK|the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea]] to hold elections in Korea. The Soviet Union opposed this move. In the absence of Soviet cooperation, it was decided to hold UN-supervised elections in the south only.<ref>{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |page=66}}</ref> In April 1948, a conference of organizations from the North and the South met in [[Pyongyang]], but the conference produced no results. The southern politicians [[Kim Koo]] and [[Kim Kyu-sik]] attended the conference and boycotted the elections in the South.<ref>{{cite book | title = Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History| last = Cumings| first = Bruce| author-link = Bruce Cumings| year = 2005| publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company]]| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-393-32702-1 |pages=211, 507}}</ref> Both men were posthumously awarded the [[National Reunification Prize]] by North Korea.<ref name="kcna19980507national">{{cite web|title=National Reunification Prize Winners |url=http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/1998/9805/news05/07.htm |date=7 May 1998 |agency=Korean Central News Agency |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602043554/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/1998/9805/news05/07.htm |archive-date=2 June 2013 }}</ref> The elections were held in South Korea on 10 May 1948. On 15 August, the [[Republic of Korea]] formally came into existence.<ref name="ReferenceC">{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |page=67}}</ref> A parallel process occurred in North Korea. A new [[Supreme People's Assembly]] was elected in August 1948, and on 3 September a [[Constitution of North Korea|new constitution]] was promulgated. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) [[Day of the Foundation of the Republic (North Korea)|was proclaimed]] on 9 September, with Kim as [[Premier of North Korea|Premier]].<ref>{{cite book| title = The Making of Modern Korea | last = Buzo | first = Adrian | year = 2002| publisher = Routledge|  location = London | isbn = 978-0-415-23749-9 |pages=60–61}}</ref> On 12 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the report of UNTCOK and declared the Republic of Korea to be the "only lawful government in Korea".<ref name="ReferenceC"/>

By 1949, North Korea was a full-fledged Communist state. All parties and mass organizations joined the [[Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland]], ostensibly a [[popular front]] but in reality dominated by the Communists. The government moved rapidly to establish a [[Politics of North Korea|political system]] that was partly styled on the [[Politics of the Soviet Union|Soviet system]], with political power monopolised by the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] (WPK).