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{
    "localId": "205716342",
    "label": "Report to the President: China - Korea, Submitted by Lieutenant General Alfred C. Wedemeyer",
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{
    "id": "205716342",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/205716342",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Report to the President: China - Korea, Submitted by Lieutenant General Alfred C. Wedemeyer",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/205716342",
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        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
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{
    "url": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/205716342",
    "naId": 205716342,
    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "logicalDate": "1947-09-01",
            "month": 9,
            "year": 1947
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{
    "seq": 83,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602191/750237/750237-14-083.jpg",
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    "ocrText": "TOP SECRET\nnation. Now that unification appears to be a matter for the indefinite future, plans are\nbeing made to carry out such a program at the earliest possible moment.\nObstructions to Realization of United States Objectives\nThe chief obstructions to the realization of United States objectives in Korea have\nbeen the division of that country by the 38° North parallel barrier and the lack of Soviet\ncooperation in carrying out the provisions of the Moscow Agreement regarding Korea.\nBehind the 38° North parallel the Soviet Union has established a Democratic Front Gov-\nernment modelled along Soviet lines and has eliminated all political parties of a non-\nCommunist character. North Korean Communist groups have thus been able to encour-\nage and assist the activities of the Democratic Front and other Communist-dominated\nleftist groups in South Korea hostile to the United States by the infiltration of agents\nfrom North Korea into the American zone of occupation. The Soviet refusal in the United\nStates-Soviet Joint Commission to consult with all Korean political and social organiza-\ntions, as the first step in the formation of a Provisional Korean Government, has so far\nmade it impossible to realize American objectives in Korea-the establishment of a self-\ngoverning, sovereign Korea independent of foreign control and fully representative of the\nfreely expressed will of the Korean people.\nOther obstructions to the realization of American objectives in Korea have come\nfrom sources within the United States zone of occupation:\n1. Extreme rightist groups under Dr. Syngman Rhee and Kim Koo have done much\nto block American efforts to implement the Moscow Agreement by adopting not only a\nnon-cooperative but even an obstructive attitude. These groups, aided by their youth\ncorps organizations employing terroristic tactics, have. used methods of intimidation to\nrestrict the political activity of middle-of-the-road and non-Communist leftist groups;\nthey have acted to prevent the participation in governmental administration of moderate\nKoreans of influence and ability who might otherwise have made a contribution to the\ndevelopment of Korea.\n2. Similarly, extreme leftist groups have endeavored to foment hostility to the United\nStates and opposition to the attainment of American objectives in Korea. Such groups\nhave been particularly active among Korean peasants in opposing the rice collection pro-\ngram instituted by the United States Military Government for the purpose of ensuring\nsufficient food for the urban areas.\n3. Another obstacle to the attainment of American objectives has been the activities\nof the Korean National Police, which have been the chief object of criticism by all Koreans\nexcept the extreme rightists. The latter and their youth corps work closely with the\nPolice. Criticism has been directed chiefly at the presence in positions of influence and\ncontrol in the National Police of Koreans formerly employed in the Japanese police sys-\ntem and at the fact that approximately 80 percent of the officers in the present police\norganization were former Japanese police employees. Korean resentment arises from the\nfeeling that liberation has not removed from the scene this hated symbol of Japanese\noppression, from the continued employment of Japanese methods of brutality and tor-\n82\nChicago\nAND A\nRECORDS\nTOP SECRET\nSERVICE\"\nto\nCONTINED"
}