The Politics of the Korean War
Syngman Rhee ( 1875 - 1965 )
Syngman Rhee was an American-educated Korean exile but later returned to his country. After his return, he became the first president of South Korea in 1948. As a fierce anticommunist and an unpopular autocrat, Rhee led his nation, although ineffectually, throughout the Korean War. His tactics were not effective in helping the war-torn Koreans and he had to employ authoritarian measures to maintain power. He clamored for war with the North quite passionately. After the North crossed the 38th parallel in June 1950, he ordered his army to murder any domestic political opponents. It is believed that as many as 100,000 people were murdered in this "summer of terror". Apparently, the executions were supposed to prevent southern leftists from aiding advancing North Korean troops. However, his intention to eliminating political opponents rather then fighting North Korea almost led to the collapse of his country.
Kim Il Sung ( 1912 - 1994 )
Kim Il Sung became the dictatorial leader of North Korea shortly after World War II. As a young man, he led guerrilla forces against the Japanese imperial army until he was forced to flee to Korea in the late 1930s. By the end of World War II, he had returned to the Korean peninsula along with Russian forces. He was an ardent communist and soon led the first Korean government in the North : The People's Democratic Republic of North Korea. Kim sought to reunify all of Korea under his own Communist leadership. In 1949 and early 1950, it seemed that he might be getting more support from the populace rather than Syngman Rhee himself. In mid 1950, when Kim invaded the South in July of that year, Rhee had made up his mind. Kim led North Korea throughout the Korean war. Sometimes they were near defeat and sometimes they were near victory. He agreed to the armistice of 1953, and continued ruling his country for another 40 years. In the later years, North Korea slid into poverty and authoritarianism.
Implications :
The fact that you had a leader who believed greatly in anticommunism and one that believed in communism really helped bring them into war against each other amidst the tension. There was never much trust between the two and they were only separated by the 38th parallel. It was easy for either one of them to invade the other one without notice and the North ended up doing that because of their desire to spread communism.