At which parallel did General Order No. 1 divide Japanese surrender areas in Korea?

General Order No. 1 used the 38th Parallel to divide Japanese surrender areas in Korea.

Under the order, Japanese forces north of the 38th Parallel surrendered to the Commander in Chief of Soviet forces in the Far East. Japanese forces south of the line surrendered to the Commander in Chief of U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific.

The order did not itself create the modern countries of North Korea and South Korea. Instead, it established separate zones for accepting Japan’s surrender and supervising the immediate occupation. Political tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States later hardened the division.

In 1948, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was established in the north and the Republic of Korea in the south. The Korean War began in 1950, making the 38th Parallel one of the most recognizable boundaries created in the aftermath of World War II.