Sixty years after Korea's partition into South Korea and North Korea, a full understanding of how this partition occurred is still wanting. Based on a careful examination of sources in Russian, English and Korean, including new archival evidence from Moscow, this book seeks to provide this understanding. Taking into account not only the policies of the Soviet Union and the United States but also the roles played by the Koreans themselves, Jongsoo Lee untangles the complex dynamics of the Korean partition, placing this partition in the context of modern world history and the emerging Cold War. Comparing Korea with Germany, Austria, Finland and elsewhere after World War II, Lee suggests possible alternative outcomes to Korean partition, thus shedding light on Korea's present predicament as she faces the challenges of reunification.

Sixty years after Korea's partition into South Korea and North Korea, a full understanding of how this partition occurred is still wanting. Based on a careful examination of sources in Russian, English and Korean, including new archival evidence from Moscow, this book seeks to provide this understanding. Taking into account not only the policies of the Soviet Union and the United States but also the roles played by the Koreans themselves, Jongsoo Lee untangles the complex dynamics of the Korean partition, placing this partition in the context of modern world history and the emerging Cold War. Comparing Korea with Germany, Austria, Finland and elsewhere after World War II, Lee suggests possible alternative outcomes to Korean partition, thus shedding light on Korea's present predicament as she faces the challenges of reunification.

Drawing on multi-archival research in Korean, Russian and English, this book looks at the complexity and changes in Stalin's policy toward Korea for answers about the division of Korea in 1945 and the failure of reunification between 1945 and 1948. Lee argues that the trusteeship decision is key to the division's origins and permanency.