ABSTRACT
The Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, ending World War II and the colonial era in Korea, caught the United States unprepared to deal effectively with Korea and with the exuberance of the Korean people after their liberation. While General Hodge in Okinawa prepared to come to Korea, the Soviets, who had trained a large cadre of Koreans, including Kim II Sung, in the Soviet Far East, moved immediately to assist in the formation of people's committees and other local bodies, placing their cadre in command. During the Jimmy Carter administration a coolness had developed because of Carter's pressure on human rights issues and his advocacy, as part of his campaign platform in 1976, of withdrawing US troops from Korea. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea was instituted on September 9, 1948, but on December 1 the UN General Assembly declared that the Republic of Korea was the sole legitimate government on the peninsula.
