S3: What factors made Korea vulnerable and appealing for military occupation? What geopolitical factors in the 20th century led Korea’s invasion and occupation in June 1950?

For centuries, turmoiled relations between Japan and Korea have resulted in conflict and war. Geographically situated between Japan and China, Korea has been especially vulnerable to invasion, as it held ports for trade and as a literal stepping stone to rich resources in Manchuria, making it valuable to any nation that sought its control. In 1904, it had a weak king, no army to speak of and a nobility made up of scholars, not soldiers. It was ripe for the taking. Japan, seeking to expand dominion in Asia, easily annexed Korea at the beginning of the 20th century and ruled the peninsula until Japan was defeated at the end of WWII. In 1945, the U.S. and Soviet Union split the country along the 38th parallel, the north under Soviets and the south under the U.S. The communist influence in the north and the western ideologies flourishing in the south made the terms of Korea’s independence as a unified government implausible. The two political entities were declared independent in 1945, but the new governments were weak and unstable, making them particularly vulnerable for attack.