According to Wikipedia, the North Korean regime was established on September 1, 1948. The Chicoms did not establish their government until 1949 and the article did use the term 'government'. I will grant that they were establishing it by conquest but they did not expel the Nationalist forces until 1949.
This is just plain ignorance and laziness on the part of AP. They cannot be trusted to do their basic homework, which is why we should NEVER trust what they say.
Oops! This is WND, not AP. The error is still rather egregious.