communist uprising in korea. america went in to help the democratic south koreans, and after a few years forced an armistice with north korean forces - NOT a surrender or anything. so technically, the war is still going on, its just under a cease fire for the time being. i haven't studied the subject, but it could be a result of the devastation the japanese left. the japanese were never required by the allies to pay reparations to the countries it had invaded and destroyed - the germans had to. as a result, china, for one, was ruined. a government that was already dealing with a communist uprising now had next to no resources left to fight the rebels. granted, the government was corrupt and really not the best militarily or politically. but with japanese reparations, they at least would have had a fighting chance to rebuild the country. many people blamed the horrible state of the country on the kuomingtang government.

so maybe the same kind of thing fueled the korean war?