A conference held to agree a formal peace treaty between Japan and the nations against which she had fought in World War II. When the treaty came into force in April 1952, the period of occupation (Japan, occupation of) was formally ended and Japanese sovereignty restored. Japan recognized the independence of Korea and renounced its rights to Taiwan, the Pescadores, the Kuriles, southern Sakhalin, and the Pacific islands mandated to it before the war by the League of Nations. The country was allowed the right of self-defence with the proviso that the USA would maintain its own forces in Japan until the Japanese were able to shoulder their own defensive responsibilities. The Soviet Union did not sign the treaty, but diplomatic relations were restored in 1956, while peace treaties with Asian nations conquered by the Japanese in the war were signed through the 1950s as individual problems with reparations were resolved.