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    "localId": "229036752",
    "label": "Report, \"The Truth About Korea\"",
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    "id": "229036752",
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    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Report, \"The Truth About Korea\"",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/229036752",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Korean War Files"
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            "dateQualifier": "ca.",
            "logicalDate": "1950-01-01",
            "year": 1950
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    "seq": 8,
    "pageIndex": 0,
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    "ocrText": "- 8 -\nAfter the UN-sponsored elections in Korea in 1948, Mr. Dulles\nagain handled the resolution on Korea in the General Assembly which also\ncalled for the withdrawal of forces. This resolution was adopted December 12,\n1948. Ac far as could be known, Soviet forces were, in fact, withdrawn\nfrom North Korea in December 1948. It was important that the United States\nfaithfully follow these resolutions. In addition, it has been the policy\nof the United States to refrain from military interference in the affairs\nof free nations. After Korea became an independent nation, it was important\nthat she be freed of foreign occupying forces. It should be recalled that\nafter the United Nations had established the Republic as an independent\ncountry, Soviet propaganda proclaimed that the Republic was being held\nunder military control by the United States. This propaganda would have\nhad serious political effects throughout the Far East if United States\nforces had continued to remain in the Republic.\nUNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO KOREA\nPerhaps the most outstanding of the many examples of partisan\nhindsight is the charge that the Administration did not give adequate\nassistance to Korea. This charge is shouted most loudly and with least\ngrace by the very Republican leaders who opposed the economic and military\naid programs.\nA tabulation of the total aid sent to the Republic of Korea by\nthe United States is at Appendix I.\nThe ability of a country to defend itself against internal in-\nsurrection and foreign aggression depends upon both its economic and mili-\ntary strength. Tanks and guns are necessary to repel invasion, but these\nimplements of war become ineffective when those who man them are hungry\nand are embittered against the country they are called upon to defend.\nEmpty stomachs and resentful minds are breeding places for Communism.\nThe social welfare of a nation is as important as its armaments. Senator\nVandenberg pointed this out when in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee\nhearings on the Mutual Defense Assistance Program in 1949 he stated that\nthere would be no use in voting for military aid to Korea if economic aid\nwere not also voted. This was of course true, yet the way this principle\nwas followed by the Republicans in the Congress can be seen from their ac-\ntions on two major measures for economic aid to Korea proposed by the Ad-\nministration.\nECONOMIC AID TO KOREA\n(1) A proposal was male by Under Secretary Acheson\nin the spring of 1947 that there be started at once a\nthree-year grant-in-aid program to the Republic of Korea.\nThis program was calculated to make the Republic substan-\ntially self-supporting by June 30, 1950. If this program\nhad been carried out as planned, the Republic of Korea would\nhave had by now the economic strength to support a defense\nforce which might have deterred North Korean aggression or,\nif it had come, would have been far more potent in limiting\nits effectiveness. Yet when this farsighted proposal was\npresented to the leaders in both the Senate and the House\nof the Republican 80th Congress, they neither recognized\nthe vital importance of the plan nor gave it consideration."
}