How Two Americans Split Korea in One Night

Every night, North Korea goes dark while South Korea glows. The border between them wasn't drawn by Koreans. In August 1945, two American officers in Washington were handed a National Geographic map and asked where the Soviet zone should end. Neither of them was a Korea expert, and no Korean was asked. They picked the 38th parallel. It was meant to last a few weeks. It led to a war that killed almost three million people, a ceasefire that never became peace, a border that splits families to this day, and, this month, a North Korea that says it will "cut off the relationship forever". So who is really to blame? Chapters 0:00 North dark, South glowing 0:31 One Korea, then Japan 1:14 Liberation, August 1945 1:41 The bombs and the Soviet advance 2:02 The night of 10 August 3:20 Two occupations 4:08 Two Koreas 4:26 The Korean War 5:58 A ceasefire, never a peace 6:28 The border today 6:56 The families it split 7:37 Two different worlds 8:20 The end of the dream 9:13 Back to that side room 9:37 Who is to blame? Credits: Maps: Natural Earth. Sounds: CC0 Public Domain Sounds library, ESC-50 (CC0-sourced clips only), AltSFX by ALEX11BR. #history #korea #northkorea