The Potsdam Conference and the Role of the U.S. in the Division of Korea along the 38th Parallel North: August-11 Draft Theory vs. July-25 Conception Theory

Abstract

Conventional accounts of the division of the Korean Peninsula at the 38 th parallel north see the line as having been suddenly drafted for the convenience of the military on August 11, 1945. This narrative was based on oral testimony records of Brigadier General Lincoln, who headed the strategic planning unit under the U.S. joint special operations agency. Lincoln and his subordinates, Colonels Bonesteel and Rusk, testified that their decision was based on a National Geographic map, which was later discovered at the U.S. National Archives. Cartographic discrepancies, however, suggest that the August 11 accidental draft may be a deliberate cover-up for actual deliberations that had taken place earlier. Interviews with Lieutenant General Hull reveal that the idea of the 38 th parallel line was created at an earlier date, around July 25, during the Potsdam Conference. The 38 th parallel plan is therefore better interpreted as an outcome of U.S. decision-makers’ advance preparation, which began at a date no later than July 25. It was apparently based on political interest to prevent the Soviet Union’s southward advancement. While Hull’s memoir partly differs from the conventional U.S.-Soviet secret pact theory, it should be regarded as relevant, especially because he was the superior in position to the three individuals on whose testimony the conventional theories are based. The present study concludes that while the actual draft of the 38 th parallel dividing line was confirmed and formulated to the superior authorities by Lincoln and others on August 11, the plan was devised earlier, around July 25.