What caused it: Toward the end of World War II, the Soviet Union (USSR) declared war on Japan and by August 10, 1945, it occupied the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. At the end of the war, Korea was then divided into northern and southern portions at the 38th parallel by the Allies at the Potsdam Conference. The United States was to administer the southern part, while the USSR administered the northern area. This division started the conflicts between the two areas of Korea because the northern region followed the USSR and became communist, while the south opposed this form of government and formed a strong anti-communist, capitalist government. As a result, in July of 1948, the anti-communist southern region drafted a constitution and began to hold national elections which were subjected to terrorism. However, on August 15, 1948, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was officially founded and Syngman Rhee was elected as president. Shortly thereafter the USSR established a Communist North Korean Government called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) with Kim Il-Sung as its leader. Once the two Koreas were formally established, Rhee and Il-Sung worked to reunify Korea. This caused conflicts though because each wanted to unify the area under their own political system and rival governments were established. In addition, North Korea was heavily supported by the USSR and China and fighting along the border of North and South Korea was not uncommon.
