Profiles of Important People

Kim Il-sung - The Communist leader of North Korea. He developed a personality cult around himself, and ruled until his death in 1994.
He organized a guerrilla force to fight the Japanese. He also lived in the Soviet Union where he became a dedicated communist. Kim worked closely with the Soviet Union to set up a communist government. He stirred up trouble in the south, supporting local communists. But some South Korean opposed Rhee and his government without any supports from Kim. Kim invaded South Korea and started war. Fighting broke out along the 38th parallel.



Syngman Rhee - "Democratically elected" leader of South Korea. Syngman Rhee was a committed nationalist obsessed with the idea of ruling a unified, independent Korea.
Rhee was strongly anti-communist and usually supported American interests. He led political organization called the Korean Democratic Party. Many Koreans in the south opposed Rhee because of there ties to their hated former rulers. Rhee tried to suppress any political activity that challenged his government. Syngman Rhee placed his troops under MacArthur's command.