Which foreign powers occupied Korea after Japan surrendered in 1945?

Following Japan's surrender in 1945, the Korean Peninsula was liberated from colonial rule but was immediately divided into two occupation zones along the 38th parallel.12

• The Soviet Union: Soviet forces occupied the northern half of the peninsula. They facilitated the rise of a communist-controlled government led by Kim Il-Sung, a former anti-Japanese guerrilla fighter with ties to the U.S.S.R..324
• The United States: American forces occupied the southern half of the peninsula. The U.S. established a military government under Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, which eventually backed the anticommunist nationalist Syngman Rhee.3256

This division, initially intended as a temporary administrative arrangement to facilitate the surrender of Japanese forces, became entrenched as Cold War tensions intensified, ultimately leading to the establishment of two separate states in 1948.372