ABSTRACT
Korea is well known as one of the few officially divided countries in the world. The Korean peninsula was under Japanese colonial rule between 1910 and 1945 and during this time the two devastating world wars and related disturbances brought about rapid changes in the trajectory of international relations as they related to the Asia-Pacific. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses how US policy regarding the independence of the Korean peninsula was articulated. It introduces the US policy of utilizing Korean soldiers in the battlefield against Japan. The book assesses the impact of the joint military training for the “Eagle Project” between the Korean Provisional Government's (KPG) army, the Korean Independence Army and the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). It traces the processes involved in the gradual establishment of the South Korean state, evaluating the significance of military cooperation between the OSS and the KPG.
