People's Council" which had been elected on August 25. The Council was created without reference to the principles outlined in the November 14, 1947, resolution of the U.N. General Assembly. The elections to the Council were not observed by the U.N. Temporary Commission on Korea, and they were not free. Only one Communist-approved candidate was offered for each electoral district and the balloting was not secret.

The regime thus created was described by the U.N. Commission on Korea in 1949 as follows:

The northern régime is the creature of a military occupant and rules by right of a mere transfer of power from that Government. It has never been willing to give its subjects an unfettered opportunity, under the scrutiny of an impartial international agency, to pass upon its claim to rule. The claims to be a "people's" democracy and its expressions of concern for the general welfare are falsified by this unwillingness to account for the exercise of power to those against whom it is employed.

A number of the key leaders of this regime were Soviet citizens of Korean ancestry. They or their parents were Koreans who had migrated into Soviet Asia during the period of Japanese control over Korea. The Soviet occupation authorities brought into north Korea in 1945 and 1946 a number of these Soviet Koreans who became the backbone of the new regime. They were installed, usually as vice ministers, in every ministry, in the Communist Party apparatus, and in key positions in the armed forces.

Among this group of men were the present Premier, who goes by the name of a legendary Korean patriot of long ago, Kim Il Sung. About 1940 this individual migrated into Soviet territory and became a Soviet army officer. Also prominent among the Soviet Koreans were Ho Ka I who became the vice chairman of the powerful Communist Korean Labor Party (he had once been a Communist Party official in the Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan), and Nam Il, a one-time Soviet army officer who became the chief north Korean negotiator in the armistice talks at Panmunjom in 1951 and later Foreign Minister. In 1953 and again in 1956–57, this Soviet-Korean group carried out extensive purges of Korean Communists belonging to the so-called "domestic" faction and the Chinese Communist-oriented "Yenan faction."

Shortly after the formation of the Communist regime in north Korea, the Soviet Foreign Ministry, in a note of September 18, 1948, to the American Embassy in Moscow, announced that all Soviet forces would be withdrawn from Korea by the end of December 1948. This was a little more than 1 year after the Soviet proposal to the United States that both nations withdraw their troops immediately and simultaneously. The United States, in a note of September 28,

1948, replied that it regarded "the question of troop withdrawal as part of the larger question of Korean unity and independence" and that this question would be discussed at the General Assembly of the United Nations. While the Soviet Union withdrew its occupying forces from the north, it continued to dominate the north Korean regime as it had before.

The Soviet-created government in north Korea applied for admission to the United Nations on February 9, 1949, but its application was not considered in view of the General Assembly resolution of December 12, 1948, which recognized the Republic of Korea as the only lawful government in Korea.

V. U.S. Relations With the Republic of Korea,
1948-1950

Following the establishment of the Republic of Korea, the United States was concerned with two major problems, in addition to the unification question. These were the formation and equipment of Korean security forces sufficient to permit the withdrawal of American troops and the development of a program of economic assistance to help the new government lay the basis for a viable national economy.

WITHDRAWAL OF AMERICAN TROOPS

Shortly after the elections of May 10, 1948, the United States began to prepare plans for the withdrawal of American troops. The Government of the Republic of Korea was of the opinion, however, that such withdrawal would be inadvisable before its own security forces had attained a degree of strength and training sufficient to carry out their defense mission successfully. On November 20, 1948, the Korean National Assembly, in view of the program for withdrawal of American troops planned at that time, passed a resolution requesting postponement of such withdrawal "until Korea is ready in military preparation for her own defense."

In April 1949 the American Ambassador in Seoul indicated to President Rhee that it was believed that progress in the building of a Korean defense force was sufficient to warrant withdrawal of U.S. troops in a matter of months. The first contingents of troops were actually withdrawn at the end of May in spite of some misgivings

on the part of the Korean Defense Minister. The last contingent of troops departed from Korea on June 29, 1949. The withdrawal was observed and verified by the U.N. Commission on Korea.

U.S. MILITARY AND ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE

Before withdrawing its forces the United States transferred to the Korean Government military equipment which had originally cost some $56 million. A mutual defense assistance agreement was also entered into on January 26, 1950, under which a Korean Military Advisory Group was established by the United States to carry on the training mission previously undertaken by the U.S. forces in Korea. From the liberation of Korea in September 1945 through the end of the fiscal year 1948, the United States made available to Korea $210.5 million in relief supplies. After the Republic of Korea was established, President Rhee, on September 1, 1948, addressed an appeal to President Truman requesting the "continuance of the aid and assistance which the American people have generously accorded during the past 3 years" in order that the Republic of Korea might be able to continue the economic rehabilitation which had been begun.

On December 10, 1948, an economic aid agreement was concluded between the two governments under which the United States undertook to provide financial, material, and technical assistance to promote the national recovery of Korea. During the first 18 months of the program undertaken under this agreement $108.8 million was made available for Korean aid through the U.S. Economic Cooperation Administration. Authorization for a Korean aid appropriation of $100 million was included in the Economic Cooperation Act of 1950, approved June 5, 1950.

By the end of the first quarter of 1950, the outlook for the Korean economy was considered favorable by the Economic Cooperation Administration. The level of industrial activity in the Republic of Korea was estimated to be 80 percent above the 1947 average, and the Republic was also reported to be "substantially self-supporting" in food production. Gains during the period of ECA assistance were reported in the field of fisheries, coal mining, electric power production, textile manufactures, railroad construction, and agricultural production.

In June 1950 an unprovoked surprise attack on the Republic of Korea by Communist forces from the North shattered much of what had been accomplished during the post-liberation period and precipitated a new international crisis.

VI. The Korean War, 1950–1953

THE NORTH KOREAN AGGRESSION

Early in the morning of June 25, 1950, the north Korean regime launched a full-scale military attack against the Republic of Korea. On that day the U.S. Government was informed by its Ambassador in Korea that "North Korean forces invaded Republic of Korea territory at several points this morning," and that "it would appear from the nature of the attack and the manner in which it was launched that it constitutes an all-out offensive against the Republic of Korea." A similar report was received by the Secretary-General of the United Nations from the U.N. Commission in Korea.

SECURITY COUNCIL ACTIONS

Security Council Resolution of June 25. Considering this assault upon the Republic of Korea as a breach of the peace and an act of aggression, the U.S. Government at 3 a.m. on June 25 requested an immediate meeting of the Security Council. The Security Council met at Lake Success at 2 p.m. on the same day and adopted a resolution sponsored by the United States by a vote of 9 to 0, with one abstention (Yugoslavia) and one absence (the Soviet Union 1), declaring a breach of the peace and calling for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of north Korean forces to the 38th parallel. The resolution also called upon all members "to render every assistance to the United Nations in the execution of this resolution and to refrain from giving assistance to the North Korean authorities."

On June 26 the U.N. Commission reported that all evidence pointed to the north Korean invasion being "a calculated, coordinated attack prepared and launched with secrecy." The Commission warned that in the light of the advances already made the attack might well be pressed to a successful conclusion within a matter of days and thus render "academic" the Security Council resolution for a cease-fire and withdrawal of north Korean forces. By this time the U.S. Government had received a direct appeal from the Korean National Assembly for "effective and timely aid in order to prevent this act of destruction of world peace." The National Assembly had also appealed to the United Nations through the U.N. Commission on Korea for "immediate and effective steps to secure peace and security."

1 The Soviet Union had boycotted meetings of the Security Council since January 1950 because of the Council's refusal to replace the representative of the Republic of China with a representative of the Communist Chinese regime.

At noon on June 27 President Truman announced that in view of the failure of the north Korean forces to heed the call of the Security Council for a cease-fire and withdrawal, he had ordered U.S. air and sea forces "to give the Korean Government troops cover and support," in accordance with the Council's resolution of June 25, which had called upon all member states to render every assistance to the United Nations in its execution.

When the Security Council met at 3 p.m. on June 27 it had conclusive evidence from the reports of the U.N. Commission in Korea of the aggressive nature of the north Korean attack. The Commis sion had reported that the aggression was continuing and gave its estimate of the situation as follows:

Commission's present view is, first, that judging from actual progress of operations Northern regime is carrying out well-planned, concerted, and fullscale invasion of South Korea, second, that South Korean forces were deployed on wholly defensive basis in all sectors of the parallel, and third, that they were taken completely by surprise as they had no reason to believe from intelligence sources that invasion was imminent.

Security Council Resolution of June 27. At the June 27 meeting of the Security Council, the U.S. representative, Ambassador Warren R. Austin, stated that the continuing invasion of the Republic of Korea by north Korean forces in defiance of the Council's resolution of June 25 was "an attack on the United Nations itself." Mr. Austin declared that it was the "duty of the Security Council to invoke stringent sanctions to restore international peace," and he introduced a draft resolution for the consideration of the Council. After reading President Truman's announcement of noon of that day, referred to above, he concluded his statement as follows:

The keynote of the draft resolution and of my statement, and the significant characteristics of the action taken by the President, is support of the United Nations purposes and principles-in a word: "peace".

The resolution which the Security Council adopted at this meeting by a vote of 7 to 1, with two abstentions and one absence,1 recommended that "the Members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea as may be necessary to repel the armed attack and to restore international peace and security in the area."

Establishment of U.N. Command. The response of the members of the United Nations to the Security Council's resolution of June 27

1 1The Indian and Egyptian representatives abstained because of lack of instructions, but 2 days later India accepted the resolution. Yugoslavia cast the negative vote. The Soviet Union was absent because of its boycott of the Council.