Press Release, Statement by President Harry S. Truman

26220 IMMEDIATE RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT I have met with General of the Army Douglas MacArthur for the purpose of getting first-hand information and ideas from him. I did not wish to take him away from the scene of action in Korea any longer than necessary and, therefore, I came to meet him at Wake. Our conference has been highly satisfactory, The very complete unanimity of view which prevailed enabled us to finish our discussions rapidly, in order to meet General MacArthur¹s desire to return at the earliest possible moment. It was apparent that the excellent coordination which has existed between Washington and the field, to which General MacArthur paid tribute, greatly facilitated the discussion. After I had talked with General MacArthur privately, we met together with our advisers. These joint talks were then followed by technical consultations in which the follow- ing participated: General MacArthur and Ambassador John Muccio; Mr. Averell Harriman, Special Assistant to the Presi- dent; Secretary of the Army Frank Pace; General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander-in-Chie Pacific Fleet; Assistant Secretary of State De an Rusk, and Ambassador at Large Philip C. Jessup. Primarily we talked about the problems in Korea which are General MacArthur's most pressing responsibilities, I asked him for information on the military aspects. I got from him a clear picture of the heroism and high capacity of the United Nations forces under his command. We also dis- cussed the steps necessary to bring peace and security to the area as rapidly as possible in accordance with the intent of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly and in order to get our armed forces out of Korea as soon as their United Nations mission is completed. We devoted a good deal of time to the major problem of peaceful reconstruction of Korea which the United Nations is facing and to the solution of which we intend to make the best contribution of which the United States is capable. This is a challenging task which must be done properly, if we are to achieve the peaceful goals for which the United Nations has been fighting. The success which has attended the combined military effort must be supplemented by both spiritual and material rehabilitation. It is essentially a task of helping the Koreans to do a job which they can do for themselves better than anyone else can do it for them. The United Nations can, however, render essential help with supplies and technical advice as well as with the vital problem of rebuilding their educational system. Me anwhile, I can say I was greatly impressed with what General MacArthur and Ambassador Muccio told me about what has already been done and is now being done to bring order out of chaos and to restore to the Korean people the chance for a good life in peace. For example, the main rail line from Inchon to Suwon was open to rail traffic in less than ten days after the Inchon landing. The rail line from Pusan to the west bank of the Han River opposite Seoul was open to one-way rail traffic about October 8th. Bridge and highway recon- struction is progressing rapidly. Power and the water