Press Release, Statement by President Harry S. Truman

Taken from pac file Korea communique STATEMENT BY THG PRISIDENT I have met with General of the Anny Douglas MacArthur for the pyrpose 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 MacArthur's desire to return at the earliest possible moments It was pparent that the excellent coordina tion which has existed between Jashington 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 tolks wore then followed by technical consultations in which the following participated: General liacArthur and Ambassador John Muccio; Mr. Averell liarriman, Special Assistant to the President, Secretary of the Army Frank Pace, General of the Anny Omar II. Bradley, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Arthur to l'adford, Commanderin-Chief Pacific Fleets Assistant Secretary of State Dean 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. Je also discussed 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 Koroa as soon as their United Nations mission is completed. We devoted a good deal of time to the major problem of peaceful reconstruc- tion 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 chal lenging 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 matorial 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 then. The United Nations can, 1 owever, render essential helr with supplies and technical advice as woll as with the vital problem of rebuilding their educational systems Leanwhile, I can say I was greatly im- pressed with what Ceneral l'acArthur and imbasnador Muccio toll me about what las alroady 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 p-ace. For example, the main rail line from Inchon to Suwon was open to rail traffic in less than ten clays after the Inchon landing. The rail line from Pusan to the west bank of the Han River opposite Seoul was onen to one-way rail traffic about October 8th. Bridge and highway reconstruction is progressing rapidly Poweren ARCHIVES AND RECORDS