paragraph_text: The history of the rank of corporal in the USMC roughly parallels that of the U.S. Army until 1942. From 1775 until WWII, the Marine Corps used essentially the same rank and organizational structure as its common British and colonial forebears with the Army, as well as the later Continental and U.S. armies. In 1942, as the Army modified its triangular division infantry organization to best fight in the European / North African / Middle Eastern Theatre the Marine Corps began modifying the triangular division plan to best employ its amphibious warfare doctrine in the Pacific Theatre. This meant that for the Corps, squad leaders would remain as sergeants and that the rifle squad would be sub-divided into three four - man fire teams each led by a corporal.

paragraph_text: The Demilitarized Zone runs northeast of the 38th parallel; to the south, it travels west. The old Korean capital city of Kaesong, site of the armistice negotiations, originally was in pre-war South Korea, but now is part of North Korea. The United Nations Command, supported by the United States, the North Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteers, signed the Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953 to end the fighting. The Armistice also called upon the governments of South Korea, North Korea, China and the United States to participate in continued peace talks. The war is considered to have ended at this point, even though there was no peace treaty. North Korea nevertheless claims that it won the Korean War.

paragraph_text: In 1952, the United States elected a new president, and on 29 November 1952, the president - elect, Dwight D. Eisenhower, went to Korea to learn what might end the Korean War. With the United Nations' acceptance of India's proposed Korean War armistice, the KPA, the PVA, and the UN Command ceased fire with the battle line approximately at the 38th parallel. Upon agreeing to the armistice, the belligerents established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has since been patrolled by the KPA and ROKA, United States, and Joint UN Commands.

paragraph_text: Tito's Handmade Vodka is a vodka produced in Austin, Texas, (in the state's first legal distillery) established by Tito Beveridge. Prided for being handmade, the vodka is also notable for being made from yellow corn, instead of the more commonly used potatoes or wheat. Using corn results in a mildly sweet aftertaste. The vodka has been advertised as gluten free.

paragraph_text: On the night of 10 August in Washington, American Colonels Dean Rusk and Charles H. Bonesteel III were tasked with dividing the Korean Peninsula into Soviet and U.S. occupation zones and proposed the 38th parallel. This was incorporated into America's General Order No. 1 which responded to the Japanese surrender on 15 August. Explaining the choice of the 38th parallel, Rusk observed, "even though it was further north than could be realistically reached by U.S. forces, in the event of Soviet disagreement...we felt it important to include the capital of Korea in the area of responsibility of American troops". He noted that he was "faced with the scarcity of US forces immediately available, and time and space factors, which would make it difficult to reach very far north, before Soviet troops could enter the area". As Rusk's comments indicate, the Americans doubted whether the Soviet government would agree to this. Stalin, however, maintained his wartime policy of co-operation, and on 16 August the Red Army halted at the 38th parallel for three weeks to await the arrival of U.S. forces in the south.

paragraph_text: The Decaturville crater, also referred to as the Decaturville Dome, is an impact crater in Missouri, United States, and is one of the 38th parallel structures.

paragraph_text: Han Vodka is an 80 proof vodka from Korea made from barley, rice and "pure spring water". This smooth and clean tasting Vodka is made from barley and rice which is fermented and distilled in small batches. It is imported by Progressive Beverages located in Fullerton, California. Progressive Beverages also imports Han Soju which is a 48 proof Korean Soju. It is available in plain Soju form as well as 4 Soju based flavors: Citruss, Fire, Teq and Cane. You can find HAN Soju and flavors information at www.HANspirits.com. It is only available in the California Market at this time and is distributed by Young's Market Company, Inc. located in Tustin, California.

paragraph_text: The division of Korea between North and South Korea occurred after World War II, ending the Empire of Japan's 35 - year rule over Korea in 1945. The United States and the Soviet Union each occupied a portion of the peninsula, with the boundary between their zones of control along the 38th parallel.

paragraph_text: In 1952, the United States elected a new president, and on 29 November 1952, the president-elect, Dwight D. Eisenhower, went to Korea to learn what might end the Korean War. With the United Nations' acceptance of India's proposed Korean War armistice, the KPA, the PVA, and the UN Command ceased fire with the battle line approximately at the 38th parallel. Upon agreeing to the armistice, the belligerents established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which has since been patrolled by the KPA and ROKA, United States, and Joint UN Commands.

paragraph_text: A Soviet - US Joint Commission met in 1946 and 1947 to work towards a unified administration, but failed to make progress due to increasing Cold War antagonism and to Korean opposition to the trusteeship. Meanwhile, the division between the two zones deepened. The difference in policy between the occupying powers led to a polarization of politics, and a transfer of population between North and South. In May 1946 it was made illegal to cross the 38th parallel without a permit.

paragraph_text: The Xiongnu, a nomadic steppe confederation, defeated the Han in 200 BC and forced the Han to submit as a de facto inferior partner, but continued their raids on the Han borders. Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BC) launched several military campaigns against them. The ultimate Han victory in these wars eventually forced the Xiongnu to accept vassal status as Han tributaries. These campaigns expanded Han sovereignty into the Tarim Basin of Central Asia, divided the Xiongnu into two separate confederations, and helped establish the vast trade network known as the Silk Road, which reached as far as the Mediterranean world. The territories north of Han's borders were quickly overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Emperor Wu also launched successful military expeditions in the south, annexing Nanyue in 111 BC and Dian in 109 BC, and in the Korean Peninsula where the Xuantu and Lelang Commanderies were established in 108 BC.

paragraph_text: The war started badly for the US and UN. North Korean forces struck massively in the summer of 1950 and nearly drove the outnumbered US and ROK defenders into the sea. However the United Nations intervened, naming Douglas MacArthur commander of its forces, and UN-US-ROK forces held a perimeter around Pusan, gaining time for reinforcement. MacArthur, in a bold but risky move, ordered an amphibious invasion well behind the front lines at Inchon, cutting off and routing the North Koreans and quickly crossing the 38th Parallel into North Korea. As UN forces continued to advance toward the Yalu River on the border with Communist China, the Chinese crossed the Yalu River in October and launched a series of surprise attacks that sent the UN forces reeling back across the 38th Parallel. Truman originally wanted a Rollback strategy to unify Korea; after the Chinese successes he settled for a Containment policy to split the country. MacArthur argued for rollback but was fired by President Harry Truman after disputes over the conduct of the war. Peace negotiations dragged on for two years until President Dwight D. Eisenhower threatened China with nuclear weapons; an armistice was quickly reached with the two Koreas remaining divided at the 38th parallel. North and South Korea are still today in a state of war, having never signed a peace treaty, and American forces remain stationed in South Korea as part of American foreign policy.

paragraph_text: Jean-Marc XO Vodka is a premium vodka distilled in the Cognac region of France by Jean-Marc Daucourt and owned by the Campari Group.

paragraph_text: Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator: WWII Europe Series is the first version of combat flight simulators from Microsoft, released November 1, 1998. CFS1 is set in the European Theater of World War II.

paragraph_text: Three Olives Vodka is made from quadruple-distilled winter wheat harvested in England. The vodka is handcrafted and is available as a clear unflavored vodka as well as a variety of infused vodkas. The flavored vodkas are made using the circulation method, where the vodka flows into the flavored liquid to create the flavored vodka. The water used is sourced from a lake in Wales that was created by a dam that flooded in 1888, submerging an old village.

paragraph_text: Glen's Vodka was launched in 1972. The brand was originally known as Grant's Vodka, but following a legal challenge was relaunched in 2003 as Glen's Vodka.

paragraph_text: Deep Eddy Vodka Distillery is a distillery in Dripping Springs, Texas that manufactures vodka products made of south Texas corn using continuous distillation in a column still. Dripping Springs is not a part of Austin, Texas, but is, in fact, a separate town.

paragraph_text: Vodka Perfect is an international brand of vodka, produced by Renaissance-Perfect, an Israeli-based company which operates three large manufacturing facilities in Israel and Romania.

paragraph_text: On 27 September, MacArthur received the top secret National Security Council Memorandum 81/1 from Truman reminding him that operations north of the 38th parallel were authorized only if "at the time of such operation there was no entry into North Korea by major Soviet or Chinese Communist forces, no announcements of intended entry, nor a threat to counter our operations militarily..." On 29 September MacArthur restored the government of the Republic of Korea under Syngman Rhee. On 30 September, Defense Secretary George Marshall sent an eyes-only message to MacArthur: "We want you to feel unhampered tactically and strategically to proceed north of the 38th parallel." During October, the ROK police executed people who were suspected to be sympathetic to North Korea, and similar massacres were carried out until early 1951.

paragraph_text: At the Tehran Conference and the Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War in two to three months after victory in Europe. On August 8, 1945, three months to the day after the end of hostilities in Europe, and two days after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Soviet troops advanced rapidly, and the US government became anxious that they would occupy the whole of Korea. On August 10, 1945 two young officers -- Dean Rusk and Charles Bonesteel -- were assigned to define an American occupation zone. Working on extremely short notice and completely unprepared, they used a National Geographic map to decide on the 38th parallel. They chose it because it divided the country approximately in half but would place the capital Seoul under American control. No experts on Korea were consulted. The two men were unaware that forty years before, Japan and pre-revolutionary Russia had discussed sharing Korea along the same parallel. Rusk later said that had he known, he ``almost surely ''would have chosen a different line. The division placed sixteen million Koreans in the American zone and nine million in the Soviet zone. To the surprise of the Americans, the Soviet Union immediately accepted the division. The agreement was incorporated into General Order No. 1 (approved on 17 August 1945) for the surrender of Japan.

Question: Why was the country which released Han Vodka divided at the 38th parallel at the end of WW2?
Answer: it divided the country approximately in half