General Order No. 1 used the 38th parallel to divide surrender jurisdictions in Korea.
The order directed Japanese forces north of the 38th parallel to surrender to the Soviet commander in the Far East. Japanese forces south of that line were instructed to surrender to the commander of United States forces.
General Douglas MacArthur issued the order after Japan’s surrender, and it was approved by U.S. President Harry Truman on 17 August 1945. The order also required Japanese forces to reveal military deployments and preserve equipment for Allied disarmament.
The surrender boundary was an operational arrangement, not an immediate formal creation of two Korean states. Nevertheless, Soviet and American occupation zones developed on opposite sides of the line, contributing directly to Korea’s later political division and the Korean War.