1. Decides that the Commission shall consist of representatives of Australia, Canada, China, El Salvador, France, India, Philippines, Syria, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic;

2. Recommends that the elections be held not later than 31 March 1948 on the basis of adult suffrage and by secret ballot to choose representatives with whom the Commission may consult regarding the prompt attainment of the freedom and independence of the Korean people and which representatives, constituting a National Assembly, may establish a National Government of Korea. The number of representatives from each voting area or zone should be proportionate to the population, and the elections should be under the observation of the Commission;

3. Further recommends that as soon as possible after the elections, the National Assembly should convene and form a National Government and notify the Commission of its formation;

4. Further recommends that immediately upon the establishment of a National Government, that Government should, in consultation with the Commission: (a) constitute its own national security forces and dissolve all military or semi-military formations not included therein, (b) take over the functions of government from the military commands and civilian authorities of north and south Korea, and (c) arrange with the occupying Powers for the complete withdrawal from Korea of their armed forces as early as practicable and if possible within ninety days;

5. Resolves that the Commission shall facilitate and expedite the fulfilment of the foregoing programme for the attainment of the national independence of Korea and withdrawal of occupying forces, taking into account its observations and consultations in Korea. The Commission shall report, with its conclusions, to the General Assembly and may consult with the Interim Committee with respect to the application of this resolution in the light of developments;

6. Calls upon the Member States concerned to afford every assistance and facility to the Commission in the fulfilment of its responsibilities;

7. Calls upon all Members of the United Nations to refrain from interfering in the affairs of the Korean people during the interim period preparatory to the establishment of Korean independence, except in pursuance of the decisions of the General Assembly; and thereafter, to refrain completely from any and all acts derogatory to the independence and sovereignty of Korea.

118. UNITED STATES POSITION ON WITHDRAWAL OF OCCUPATION FORCES FROM KOREA, SEPTEMBER 20, 19481

It has been the consistent view of this government that the best interests of the Korean people would be served by the withdrawal of all occupying forces from Korea at the earliest practicable date. This same view was embodied in the United Nations General Assembly resolution of November 14, 1947, in which provision was made for such withdrawal as soon as practicable after the establishment of the Korean Government which it was the intention of that resolution to bring into being. Had the Soviet Union cooperated in carrying

1 Korea 1945-1948, Department of State Publication No. 3305, Washington, D. C., 1948, p. 116.

out the provisions of the resolution of November 14, 1947, the question of troop withdrawal from Korea would doubtless have been already resolved.

The United States Government regards the question of the withdrawal of occupying forces as but one facet of the entire question of the unity and independence of Korea. The General Assembly of the United Nations has taken cognizance of this larger question as evidenced by the resolution referred to above, and it may be expected to give further consideration to the matter at its forthcoming meeting.

119. UNITED STATES RECOGNITION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, JANUARY 1, 1949 1

1

On December 12, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution approving the conclusions of the report of the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea and declaring in part "that there has been established a lawful government (the Government of the Republic of Korea), having effective control and jurisdiction over that part of Korea where the Temporary Commission was able to observe and consult and in which the great majority of the people of all Korea reside; that this Government is based on elections which were a valid expression of the free will of the electorate of that part of Korea and which were observed by the Temporary Commission; and that this is the only such Government in Korea." The resolution of December 12 concluded with the recommendation that member states and other nations take the foregoing facts into consideration in establishing their relations with the Government of Korea.

In the light of this action by the General Assembly, and taking into account the facts set forth in the statement issued by this Government on August 12, 1948, concerning the new Korean Government, the United States Government has decided to extend full recognition to the Government of the Republic of Korea. Incidental to this step it is anticipated that, by agreement with that Government, the Mission of the United States Special Representative in Korea will in the near future be raised to Embassy rank.

In conformity with the General Assembly resolution of December 12, the United States Government will endeavor to afford every assistance and facility to the new United Nations Commission on Korea established thereunder in its efforts to help the Korean people and their lawful Government to achieve the goal of a free and united Korea.

120. UNITED STATES ASSISTANCE TO KOREA

Message of President to Congress, June 7, 1949 2

To the Congress of the United States:

I recommend that the Congress authorize the continuation of economic assistance to the Republican of Korea for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1950.

1 Department of State Bulletin, vol. 20, No. 497, January 9, 1949, pp. 59-60.

Department of State Bulletin of June 19, 1949, pp. 781-783.

The United States is now providing relief and a small amount of assistance in rehabilitation to the Republic of Korea under Public Law 793-80th Congress. The continuation of that assistance is of great importance to the successful achievement of the foreign policy aims of the United States. The authority of the present Act extends only until June 30, 1949. For this reason legislation is urgently needed and I am hopeful that the Congress may give it early consideration. The people of the United States have long had sympathetic feelings for the Korean people. American missionaries, supported by American churches of many denominations, brought spiritual guidance, education and medical aid to the Korean people during their forty years of Japanese bondage. All Americans who have come to know the Korean people appreciate their fierce passion for freedom and their keen desire to become an independent nation.

Early in the war with Japan, it was resolved that Korea should be liberated. In the Cairo Declaration of December, 1943, the United States joined with the United Kingdom and China to express their determination that in due course Korea should become free and independent. This pledge was reaffirmed in the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945, with which the Soviet Union associated itself upon its entrance into the war against Japan in the following month. With our victory over Japan, it was hoped that the Korean nation would be reborn. Unfortunately, however, only the people of Korea south of the 38° parallel have thus far attained their freedom and independence.

The present division of Korea along the 38° parallel was never intended by the United States. The sole purpose of the line along the 38° parallel was to facilitate acceptance by the Soviet and United States forces of the surrender of Japanese troops north and south of that line. Immediately after the completion of the Japanese surrender the United States through direct negotiations with the Soviet Union sought to restore the unity of Korea.

For two years these efforts were rendered unavailing by the attitude of the Soviet Union. When it became apparent that further delay would be injurious to the interests of the Korean people, the United States submitted the matter to the General Assembly of the United Nations, in the hope that the United Nations could assist the people of Korea to assume their rightful place as an independent, democratic nation.

By vote of an overwhelming majority, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on November 14, 1947, calling for an election, under the observation of a United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea, to choose a representative National Assembly for the purpose of drafting a democratic constitution and establishing a national government. The Soviet Union refused to permit the United Nations Commission to enter its zone. Consequently, the right of the Korean people to participate in a free election to establish a free government was confined to south Korea. As a result of this election, the Government of the Republic of Korea was inaugurated August 15, 1948. The General Assembly of the United Nations at its next session considered the report of its Commission and in December, 1948, adopted a resolution holding the Government of the Republic of Korea to be the validly elected, lawful government of the area in which elections were held under the Commission's observation-and

the only such government in Korea. The General Assembly established a re-constituted Commission to consult with the occupying powers on the withdrawal of their forces and to continue to work for the unification of Korea under representative government.

The United States terminated its military government in Korea upon the inauguration of the Government of the Republic of Korea and recognized the new government on New Year's Day, 1949.

The December, 1948, resolution of the General Assembly called on the occupying powers to withdraw their forces as soon as practicable. The United States has thus far retained a small number of troops in Korea at the request of the Government of the Republic to give the Republic an opportunity to establish forces adequate to protect itself against internal disturbances and external attacks short of an aggressive war supported by a major power. A military advisory group requested by the Korean Government for training purposes will be retained in Korea after the withdrawal of United States troops.

The debilitated state in which the Korean economy was left by the Japanese has been accentuated by the separation of the hydroelectric power, coal and metal and fertilizer industries of the north from the agricultural and textile industries of the south and by the effects of continuing communist agitation. The United States has furnished. the people of south Korea with basic relief during the period of military government. Despite such assistance, however, the Republic is still far short of being able to support itself, even at the present modest standard of living of its people. It is in urgent need of further assistance in the diffcult period ahead until it can stand on its own feet economically.

The aid now being provided to Korea is essentially for basic relief. Without the continuation of such relief, its economy would collapseinevitably and rapidly. Bare relief alone, however, would not make it possible for the Republic to become self-supporting. The Republic would remain dependent upon the continuation of relief from the United States at a costly level into the indefinite future-and subject to the same inevitable collapse at any time the relief should be withdrawn. For these reasons the aid granted should be not for more relief but for recovery. The kind of program which is needed is the kind which the Congress has authorized for the countries of Western Europe and under which those countries have achieved such rapid progress toward recovery during the past year. Full advantage should be taken of the broad and successful experience in Western Europe by continuing responsibility for the administration of the Korean aid program in the Economic Cooperation Administration, which has been administering aid to Korea since January 1 of this year.

Prior to January 1 of this year, aid to Korea was administered by the Army as a part of its program for government and relief in occupied areas. The Budget which I submitted to the Congress in January contemplated that economic assistance to Korea would be continued outside of the Army's program for government and relief in occupied areas. The needs of the Republic of Korea for economic assistance. have been carefully studied in the light of the latest available information. I am convinced that the sum of $150,000,000 is the minimum aid essential during the coming year for progress toward economic

recovery.

Such a recovery program will cost only a relatively small amount more than a bare relief program. Yet a recovery program-and only a recovery program-will enable the Republic of Korea to commence building up the coal production, electric power capacity and fertilizer production which are fundamental to the establishment of a selfsupporting economy and to the termination of the need for aid from the United States. Aid in the restoration of the Korean economy should be less costly to the United States in the end than a continued program of relief.

The recovery program which is recommended is not only the soundest course economically but also the most effective from the standpoint of helping to achieve the objectives of peaceful and democratic conditions in the Far East.

Korea has become a testing ground in which the validity and practical value of the ideals and principles of democracy which the Republic is putting into practice are being matched against the practices of communism which have been imposed upon the people of north Korea. The survival and progress of the Republic toward a selfsupporting, stable economy will have an immense and far-reaching influence on the people of Asia. Such progress by the young Republic will encourage the people of southern and southeastern Asia and the islands of the Pacific to resist and reject the Communist propaganda with which they are besieged. Moreover, the Korean Republic, by demonstrating the success and tenacity of democracy in resisting communism, will stand as a beacon to the people of northern Asia in resisting the control of the communist forces which have overrun them.

The Republic of Korea, and the freedom-seeking people of north Korea held under Soviet domination, seek for themselves a united, self-governing and sovereign country, independent of foreign_control and support and with membership in the United Nations. In their desire for unity and independence, they are supported by the United Nations.

The United States has a deep interest in the continuing progress of the Korean people toward these objectives. The most effective, practical aid which the United States can give toward reaching them will be to assist the Republic to move toward self-support at a decent standard of living. In the absence of such assistance, there can be no real hope of achieving a unified, free and democratic Korea.

If we are faithful to our ideals and mindful of our interest in establishing peaceful and prosperous conditions in the world, we will not fail to provide the aid which is so essential to Korea at this critical time.

121. THE PROBLEM OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF KOREA1 Resolution of the General Assembly, October 21, 1949 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HAVING REGARD to its resolutions 112 (II) of 14 November 1947 and 195 (III) of 12 December 1948 concerning the problem of the independence of Korea,

General Assembly Roundup, Fourth Regular Session, Press Release GA/600, 10 December 1949.