Sen. John McCain diagnosed with brain cancer

[Dill]

(07-24-2017, 04:40 PM)Sociopathicsteelerfan Wrote:  I'd take issue with your assertion that the South was occupied by the United States, they were liberated by the United States.  This is an important distinction as Korea was not a belligerent in the war and the South was left to develop as its own nation.  This is evidenced by the fact that South Korea has, and had, complete autonomy from the US.  It would be fair to say that both superpowers used Korea as a buffer zone against the other.  What is equally true is that North Korea invaded the South, which would make them the aggressor, hence our, and the UN's, defense of South Korea.  Whether both governments once had equal claim to legitimacy I don't think any rational person would say that is still the case.  Yet, if the South invaded the North tomorrow they would be the aggressors.

Just a quick note on this side issue, cuz I like history. I don't disagree with your claim that if the South invaded the North it would be an "invasion." I just say that the formation of each state took a very different path from that of North and South Vietnam.

The Korean Peninsula was controlled by Japan in 1945, as it had been a "protectorate" of Japan since 1910. That is why it was not a belligerent during the war. It was the Soviets who defeated the Japanese land army in Manchukuo and occupied northern sections of the peninsula on the day Japan formally surrendered, in Sept. of '45. As it was pressure from the Soviet Union and the United States which forced the surrender of Japan, they equally "liberated" Korea.

A provisional government of Korea had been organized in China during the war, and with the surrender immediately went back to Korea where it appears to have had considerable support. But the US arrived in late September '45 to occupy the peninsula and disbanded it. In '46 the US put down a peasants rebellion too. So most Koreans at the time would not take issue with the claim that the US had occupied Korea. It set up a military government which was in control of Korean affairs for three years after the war, then threw support behind an anti-Communist authoritarian who had lived much of his life in the US. It is hard to say that the South was left to "develop as its own nation" any more than the North, at least up until 1956.