Following the end of World War II, Korea was divided into North and South Korea with the border at the 38th parallel. Not only were the two sectors split geographically, but the governments' regimes were diametrically different as well. It was a conflict between the communist regime in the North and the nationalist leadership in the South that would ultimately lead to the Korean War. In Paul Lashmar's article published in New Statesman and Society, he wrote, "Japanese occupation of Korea ended with its defeat in the Second World War. The victorious Russians and Americans divided Korea at the 38th parallel. In 1948, both super powers withdrew. In the South, the Americans had installed Syngman Rhee, a long-standing, aggressive national leader. For the North, Stalin chose Kim II Sung, a former captain in the Soviet Red Army, to lead the communist regime" (Lashmar, p. 24).
             It must be kept in mind, however, that it was not just internal conflict which led to the war. It was, in fact, the culmination of several different foreign leaders' actions. In this paper I will discuss the causes of the Korean War, including a discussion of some of the background regarding the foreign influences and the main players in the conflict.
             North Korean leader Kim II Sung became the driving force behind the Korean War, along with Soviet and Chinese leaders. Some historians believe it was actually Stalin, the leader of Russia at the time, who was the mastermind behind plotting the war. As Lashmar wrote, "traditionalists believed the war was Stalin's prelude to world domination, and the North Korea's leader, Kim II Sung, was Stalin's puppet, ordered to start the war to confront the west" (Lashmar, p. 24).
             On the other hand, as is always the case in American history, there are those that hold the opposing point of view. These scholars believe that the war was started from inside Korea by the respec...