ASIAN ARTIFACTS OF WORLD WAR II

The current crisis in Korea is a good reminder of the grip that World War II and the Cold War continue to have on international politics. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in l990, the 45-year old Cold War was considered at an end. But the latest North-South Korea shooting confrontation presents the occasion to revisit important leftover parts of both wars.

When Japan surrendered in l945, the Korean peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel with the northern half occupied by Soviet Union forces and the south by the United States. It was intended to be a temporary division with the two parts to be unified as a joint trusteeship following a national election. As we know, that never worked out.

At the end of World War II, the Cold War was already underway with disagreements on the future of eastern Europe, occupied by Soviet troops. With the further freezing of the Cold War, the Soviet half of Korea refused to participate in the unification election held in l948, so it was held only in the U.S.-occupied southern half. The result was a dictatorship in the north with the leadership in 2010 soon to be passed to the third generation of the same family. In the south a democracy emerged, although it has had its ups and downs with democratic governance. Over the 65 years of division there has been a major North-South war and numerous lesser but sometimes serious confrontations. The current one is considered the most dangerous since the Korean War ended with an armistice in l953.

So remnants of World War II and the Cold War live on in that part of the world.

Since this post is a rummaging around in some residue of those wars, it is also worthwhile noting that there is another leftover piece in this same part of the world. Japan and Russia still have not signed a peace treaty ending World War II between the two countries, although they have not resorted to armed conflict as has occurred in Korea.

In early 1945, a U.S., British, Soviet Union summit meeting was held at Yalta, in the Soviet Crimea. One of the things agreed on at that conference was that Russia would go to war with Japan three months after the war in Europe ended. Germany surrendered in early May and the Soviet Union declared war on Japan in early August, on schedule. Besides the Yalta agreement, the Soviets were also motivated to get into the war quickly after the U.S. dropped its first atomic bomb on Japan, thereby hastening the likelihood of an early Japanese surrender. The second A-bomb was dropped on August 9, the same day the Soviets invaded Manchuria, thus guaranteeing that it would be in on getting some of the spoils of war.

Besides sending troops into Manchuria, another of its first moves was to occupy the northernmost part of Japan, the Kuril Islands. Soon after the occupation the Soviets expelled the 17,000 Japanese residents of the islands. Japan wants the Kurils back, but Russia has repeatedly said no. The two countries have signed an agreement to end the state of war, but conclusion of a permanent peace treaty has been elusive because of the dispute over the islands.

In sum, World War II and the subsequent Cold War continue to leave their imprint. In the case of Korea, this has meant off and on military confrontation. For Japan and Russia, armed conflict has not occurred nor is it likely to, but the dispute over the Kurils has left some persistent,strained relations.