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The Potsdam Conference takes place. Korea was divided into two, at the 38th parallel, North Korea for the communists and South Korea for all others.
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The Japanese surrender Korea to the U.S., just below the 38th parallel
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Truman Doctrine: U.S. President Henry Truman gives a pledge that U.S. will help any country that is under the threat of Communism.
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He is elected president soon after South Korean government passd its own constitution on July 17.
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The Republic of Korea (South Korea) is established.
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North Korea holds parliamentary elections. The Soviet Union left North Korea shortly after the elections were completed as agreed in the Potsdam Conference.
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The Korean Aid Bill is defeated in Congress, in the House of Representatives by one vote. This action cut off all aid to South Korea.
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Josef Stalin of the Soviet Union supports Kim il-Sung, asks permission to invade South Korea. Stalin agrees, based on the belief that the United States did not have any interest in Korea.
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South Korea holds elections. Voters choose anti-Rhee moderates instead of the conservatives currently in office at that time.
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North Korea launches a full scale attack against South Korea. North Korean infantry and tanks cross the 38th Parallel and meet little resistance. Start of the Korean War.
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The South Korean capital of Seoul is captured by North Korean troops.
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A coalition of South Korean and American forces establish a defensive perimeter in the city of Pusan, this became known as the Battle of Pusan Perimeter.
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U.S. President harry Truman gives the okay to General MacArthur to go after North Korean troops, even if it means crossing the 38th Parallel.
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South Korean president Syngman Rhee reestablishes his government by recapturing Seoul.
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More than 100,000 Chinese soldiers secretly arrive in North Korea through the Yalu River. They handily defeat the South Korean army at Pukchin.
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The Chinese officially enters the Korean War by intervening where KPA’s are overwhelmed by both US and UN forces.
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China’s People Volunteer Army (PVA) and the Korean’s People Army (KPA) of North Korea retake Seoul for the second time.
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General MacArthur is dismissed as Supreme Commander in Korea by President Truman. There were differences between the two American leaders that made the dismissal inevitable. General Matthew Ridgway is appointed as the new Supreme Commander of Korea.
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North Korean forces engage in a ground battle against United Nations, Philippine, ROK, and US forces in the Battle of Bloody Ridge.
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The Korean Armistice Agreement officially ends the Korean War.
