United States in the Korean War unified and independent Korea out of the post Japanese occupation era. Instead each side of the 38th parallel established its own government under the influence of the occupational country; the United States in South Korea and the Soviet Union in North Korea. Both new Korean governments discredited the other and claimed to be the only legitimate political system. "Tensions" between the North and South escalated and each side began to petition foreign powers for resources and support. South Korea wanted weapons and supplies from Truman and the United States government while North Korea sought help from Stalin and the Soviet
Soviet Union in the Korean War the precarious relations between both sides, while also offering possible advantages. As American and UN soldiers were already deployed in the war on the South Korean side, it was virtually assured that Soviet forces could not engage in open and direct hostilities against the South without provoking conflicts with other UN countries. Instead, the Soviet Union was compelled to conceal its participation in the conflict (at least to the extent where Soviet involvement could still be plausibly denied by the Soviet government) so as to minimize the risk of escalating the "Cold War" into a "Hot War" with NATO and