General Order No. 1 used the 38th parallel to divide Japanese surrender authority in Korea in 1945.
The order directed Japanese forces north of the 38th parallel to surrender to the Soviet commander in the Far East. Japanese forces south of the line were ordered to surrender to the commander of U.S. Army Forces in the Pacific. The arrangement was an operational surrender boundary, not initially a complete political settlement for Korea.
General Order No. 1 was prepared by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and approved by President Harry Truman on 17 August 1945. Douglas MacArthur issued it after Japan’s surrender announcement, and Japanese Imperial General Headquarters transmitted it to Japanese forces.
The line later became the dividing boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones in Korea. Separate administrations developed on either side, contributing to the creation of North Korea and South Korea. The Korean War began in 1950 after the division had hardened into rival states, making the 1945 surrender directive historically significant far beyond its original military purpose.