occupation of Japan administered Japan's former islands South Sakhalin Kuril Islands Korea under Japanese colonial rule divided and occupied North South Korean War Japan between United States Soviet occupied Soviet Union Asia
In Asia, the United States led the occupation of Japan and administered Japan's former islands in the Western Pacific, while the Soviets annexed South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. Korea, formerly under Japanese colonial rule, was divided and occupied by the Soviet Union in the North and the United States in the South between 1945 and 1948. Separate republics emerged on both sides of the 38th parallel in 1948, each claiming to be the legitimate government for all of Korea, which led ultimately to the Korean War.
