38th parallel, popular name given to latitude 38° N that in East Asia roughly demarcates North Korea and South Korea. The line was chosen by U.S. military planners at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945) near the end of World War II as an army boundary, north of which the U.S.S.R.
What is the significance of the 38th parallel quizlet?
What is the significance of the 38th parallel to Korean history? It is the separation between South Korea and North Korea. It is where the original separation of North Korea and South Korea was. It is also where the Armistice line is.
What did the 38th parallel represent in Korea which side fought for communism?
Contents. The Korean war began on June 25, 1950, when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south.
What is the 38th parallel also called?
The 38th parallel is also called the Korean Demilitarized Zone where this line of latitude affects the two countries on the Korean peninsula.
What happened during 38th parallel?
After five years of simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula, the Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the Northern Korean People’s Army invaded South Korea in a coordinated general attack at several strategic points along the 38th parallel, the line dividing communist North Korea from the non-communist Republic
What does it mean by 38th parallel of north and South Korea?
THE 38th parallel in question is a circle of latitude 38 degrees north of the equatorial plane. This line divides the Korean peninsula roughly in half (leaving about 56% of Korean territory on the northern side).
Why was the country split at the 38th parallel?
The 38th Parallel
The absence of US troops was mainly due to a miscalculation of when Japan would surrender. To restrict the USSR from seizing the entire peninsula, the US suggested a temporary division of the Korean peninsula between the US and USSR.
Why was the 38th parallel a crucial dividing line during the Cold War?
On June 25, 1950, over 75,000 North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. The U.S. quickly came to the aid of South Korea and the Korean War began as the first military action of the Cold War.
What is the 38th parallel made of?
The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth’s equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean. The 38th parallel north formed the border between North and South Korea prior to the Korean War.
Which side of Korea did the Soviet Union support?
North Korea
The war reached international proportions in June 1950 when North Korea, supplied and advised by the Soviet Union, invaded the South. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal participant, joined the war on the side of the South Koreans, and the People’s Republic of China came to North Korea’s aid.
How did the 38th parallel lead to the Korean War?
World War II divided Korea into a Communist, northern half and an American-occupied southern half, divided at the 38th parallel. The Korean War (1950-1953) began when the North Korean Communist army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded non-Communist South Korea.
Which side did the USSR support in the Korean War?
It provided material and medical services, as well as Soviet pilots and aircraft, most notably MiG-15 fighter jets, to aid the North Korean-Chinese forces against the United Nations Forces.
Who divided Korea at the 38th parallel?
The Soviets
In the last days of the war, the U.S. proposed dividing the Korean peninsula into two occupation zones (a U.S. and Soviet one) with the 38th parallel as the dividing line. The Soviets accepted their proposal and agreed to divide Korea.
Is the 38th parallel still used today?
Eventually, an armistice signed in July 1953 brought the Korean War to an end. In total, about five million people died in the Korean War, including many civilians. The cease-fire line roughly followed the 38th parallel with only minor changes, and the country remains divided along that line still today.
Why did Korea split into two?
The historic decision to divide the peninsula has aroused speculation on several counts. Some historians attribute the division of Korea to military expediency in receiving the Japanese surrender, while others believe that the decision was a measure to prevent the Soviet forces from occupying the whole of Korea.