Retreat, Hell!

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Until August 1945, when General Order Number One, the protocol for the surrender—and occupation—of Japan was being somewhat hastily drafted in Wash­ington, the 38th Parallel, which runs across the Korean Peninsula, had been just one line on a map of the globe.

At the time, World War II was just about over. Nagasaki and Hiroshima had been obliterated by atomic bombs, and Japan was willing to surrender. The Soviet Union had just—somewhat belatedly—declared war on the Japanese Empire, and had already started to move troops into the Japanese "Protectorates" of Manchuria and Korea.

President Truman, who had already learned not to trust the Soviet Union, re­alized that to keep the Red Army from occupying all of Korea, a border— "a de­marcation line"—between the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and the southern, where the United States planned to station troops, was needed.

If Korea was divided—about equally—at the 38th Parallel, the United States would control Seoul, the capital, and the major ports of Inchon—near Seoul—and Pusan—at the southern tip of the peninsula.

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