The history of North Korea began with the end of World War II in 1945. The surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north, and the United States occupying the south. The Soviet Union and the United States failed to agree on a way to unify the country, and in 1948, they established two separate governments – the Soviet-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the American-aligned Republic of Korea – each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.
The national flag of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, also known as the Ramhongsaek Konghwagukgi, consists of a central red panel, bordered both above and below by a narrow white stripe and a broad blue stripe. The central red panel bears a five-pointed red star within a white circle near the hoist.
The division of Korea began on August 15, 1945 when the official announcement of the surrender of Japan was released, thus ending the Pacific Theater of World War II. During the war, the Allied leaders had already been considering the question of Korea's future following Japan's eventual surrender in the war. The leaders reached an understanding that Korea would be liberated from Japan but would be placed under an international trusteeship until the Koreans would be deemed ready for self-rule. In the last days of the war, the United States proposed dividing the Korean peninsula into two occupation zones with the 38th parallel as the dividing line. The Soviets accepted their proposal and agreed to divide Korea.
The People's Republic of Korea was a short-lived provisional government that was organized at the time of the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II. It was proclaimed on 6 September 1945, as Korea was being divided into two occupation zones, with the Soviet Union occupying the north and the United States occupying the south. Based on a network of people's committees, it presented a program of radical social change.
The United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) was the official ruling body of the Southern half of the Korean Peninsula from 8 September 1945 to 15 August 1948.
Cho Man-sik, also known by his art name Godang (고당), was a Korean independence activist.
The Workers' Party of North Korea was a communist party in North Korea from 1946 to 1949 and was a predecessor of the current Workers' Party of Korea. It was founded at a congress on 28–30 August 1946, by the merger of the northern branch of the Communist Party of Korea and the New People's Party of Korea. Kim Tu-bong, the leader of the New People's Party, was elected chairman of the party, while Chu Yong-ha and Kim Il Sung were elected as vice chairmen. At the time of establishment, the party is believed to have had about 366,000 members organized in around 12,000 party cells.
The Communist Party of Korea was a communist party in Korea. It was founded during a secret meeting in Seoul in 1925. The Governor-General of Korea had banned communist and socialist parties under the Peace Preservation Law, so the party had to operate in a clandestine manner. The leaders of the party were Kim Yong-bom and Pak Hon-yong.
Kim Il Sung was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as Supreme Leader from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was declared eternal president.
The People's Committee of North Korea (Korean: 북조선인민위원회) was a provisional government governing the Northern portion of the Korean Peninsula from 1947 until 1948.
The 25th Army was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Russian Far East.
The 1st Congress of the Workers' Party of North Korea (WPNK) was held in Pyongyang, North Korea, from 28 to 30 August 1946, and established the Workers' Party of North Korea. The congress is the highest organ of the party, and is stipulated to be held every four years. A total of 801 delegates represented the party's 336,399 members. The 1st Central Committee, elected by the congress, elected Kim Tu-bong as WPNK Chairman, Kim Il Sung and Chu Yong-ha as deputy chairmen.
The 1st Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea (WPNK) was elected by the 1st Congress on 30 August 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of North Korea and the New People's Party of Korea, and remained in session until the election of the 2nd Central Committee on 30 March 1948. In between party congresses and specially convened conferences the Central Committee is the highest decision-making institution in the party and North Korea. The 1st Central Committee was not a permanent institution and delegated day-to-day work to elected central guidance bodies, such as the Political Committee, the Standing Committee and the Organisation Committee. It convened meetings, known as Plenary Sessions of the 1st Central Committee, to discuss major policies. A plenary session could be attended by non-members. These meetings are known as Enlarged Plenary Sessions. The party rules approved at the 1st Congress stipulated that the Central Committee needed to convene for a plenary session every third month. In total, the 1st Central Committee convened for twelve plenary sessions, of which eight were convened in 1947.
Terenty Fomich Shtykov was a Soviet general who supervised the liberation of North Korea, as the de facto head of its 1945–1948 military occupation and the first Soviet Ambassador to North Korea from 1948 until 1950. Shtykov's support for Kim Il Sung was crucial in his rise to power, and the two persuaded Stalin to allow the Korean War to begin in June 1950.
One Second for a Feat is a 1985 Soviet–North-Korean two-part military historical film directed by Eldor Urazbayev. The film is also known by a translation of its Korean name: Unforgettable Companion. The picture is about the exploit of Lieutenant of the Soviet Army Yakov Novichenko who rescued Kim Il Sung from a grenade thrown at the Pyongyang rally on 1 March 1946.
The Provisional People's Committee of North Korea (Korean: 북조선림시인민위원회) was the provisional government of North Korea.
The 88th Separate Rifle Brigade, also known as the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces Teaching Brigade or the 88th International Brigade, was an international military unit of the Red Army created during World War II. It was unique in that it incorporated the peoples of Korea, China, and Soviet Central Asia in its ranks.
Nikolai Georgiyevich Lebedev was a Red Army major general. Lebedev served in both the Eastern Front and Soviet-Japanese War. He later served as head of the Soviet Civil Administration in Korea from 1947 to 1948. He is considered as one of the founders of North Korea and the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
The White Shirts Society was a secret fascist terrorist organization that operated between World War II and the Korean War. It was mostly composed of young North Korean defectors to South Korea. It was militantly anti-communist and also opposed the trusteeship of Korea, especially by the Soviet Civil Administration in the North.
The following lists events that happened during 1945 in North Korea, then governed by the People's Republic of Korea and Soviet Civil Administration.
