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Why did Kim Il-sung seek to invade South Korea in 1950?
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Korean War
Map showing North Korean advances in the Korean War in June–August 1950.
Kim Il-sung sought to invade South Korea in 1950 primarily because he aimed to reunify the Korean Peninsula under his communist rule by force.12
Following the division of Korea at the 38th parallel in 1945, Kim established a communist government in the North with Soviet support. By early 1950, having consolidated his political power and strengthened the Korean People’s Army, he felt sufficiently prepared to launch an offensive to extend his authority over the entire peninsula. This invasion, which was backed by the Soviet Union, ignited the Korean War on June 25, 1950.3124