![]() ![]() Thus when Kim Il Sung decided (with Stalin’s express permission) to invade South Korea in 1950, it was only a matter of time before the U.S. ![]() The defeat of the American-sponsored Nationalist army of Chiang Kai Shek by the Communist army of Mao Tse Tung hardened American attitudes and exacerbated fears about the Communists. Relations were not good between the two parts of Korea, and by 1949 border skirmishes were frequent. North of the line, the Soviets installed the ruthless dictator Kim Il Sung, and south of the line the Americans sponsored its own ruthless dictator, Syngman Rhee. got involved, dividing the country along the 38th Parallel. The Russians of course objected and the U.N. As Max Hastings reported in his book, The Korean War, less than twenty-four hours after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the U.S. In particular, the State Department thought it critical to keep the Soviets out of Korea - because not only would Korea provide ice-free ports to the USSR, but it would allow them a strategic advantage in relation both to China and Japan. Even before World War II ended, American strategists had concerns about potential Soviet incursions into other countries. ![]()
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