Pravda, March 18, 1948
After prolonged diplomatic preparation, the American imperialists have openly demonstrated their intention to dismember Korea. Upon the insistence of the American delegation the so-called Interim Committee of the General Assembly of the UNO adopted a resolution on February 26, sanctioning the holding of elections and the formation of a separate government in Southern Korea, which is occupied by American troops.
The resolution of the Interim Committee is one part of an overall plan, already prepared, for the transformation of Southern Korea into a base for American expansion in the Far East.
With the idea of carrying out this plan, the Government of the USA blocked the execution of the Moscow decision for the creation of an interim Korean democratic government and transferred the Korean question to the consideration of the General Assembly of the UNO. The decision reached by the General Assembly in November 1947, without the participation of the representatives of the Korean people and contrary to their national interests, was conceived by the Americans with the object of eliminating the Soviet Union from participation in the settlement of the Korean question and to warrant the creation of a puppet government in Southern Korea in the future. This decision envisaged the holding in Korea of elections for the National Aseembly of the right to establish a Korean national government. In order to conceal behind the authority of the UNO the fraud of elections held under a reign of terror directed against democratic organizations in Southern Korea, the Government of the USA insisted on the creation of a special commission of the UNO which would be empowered to supervise the elections in Korea. In January this Commission, comprised of eight countries under the thumb of the USA, arrived in Seoul.
The Korean population greeted the UN Commission with unconcealed animosity, protesting against foreign interference in Korean affairs. This evoked embarrassment among the members of the Commission.
Convinced that the Korean people are definitely opposed to the creation of a separate government in Southern Korea and fearing to assume the responsibility for the dismemberment of Korea, the Commission asked the Interim Committee for advice as to its future action. At the same time the Commission submitted a proposal to the Interim Committee to permit the former to hold elections only in South Korea, informing the Koreans that these elections would allegedly be held, not to form a government but with the object of electing Korean representatives to consult with the Commission. After the election of such representatives the Commission could alter their original mission and, having thus deceived the Korean people, pass them off as the Korean “National Assembly.”
It is not difficult to comprehend the real scheme of the UN Commission, which strove by similar maneuvers to promote the carrying out of the plan for the transformation of Korea into a United States colony. The UN Commission counted on deception to induce the Korean people to take part in fraudulent elections, and thereupon to utilize these elections for the purpose of creating a separate puppet government in Southern Korea.
It is characteristic that the Un Commission proposed first to hold the elections, and only afterwards to restore the civil rights of political prisoners, to rescind the orders issued for the arrest of the leaders of the democratic parties, and to guarantee freedom of speech, press, assembly, and organization. The proposal of the UN Commission testified to its complete disregard for the democratic rights of the Korean people and to its subservience to the American imperialists. This subservience found clear expression in the declaration m ade by one of the members of the UN Commission, the Philippine representative, who, speaking in Manila over the government controlled radio, insisted that after the elections the USA should create a naval base in Southern Korea.
Feeling themselves to be the masters of the Interim Committee, which was created by their efforts in violation of the UN Charter, the American imperialists cast aside every pretense and rejected the proposal of the UN Commission, which seemed to them unnecessarily complicated. The USA, declared the American representative on the Interim Committee, desires to hold elections for a constituent assembly and not merely elections for the purpose of consultation. The “desire” of the USA was embodied in the form of a resolution of the Interim Committee, which authorizes the UN Commission to carry out in Southern Korea the program set forth in the decision of the General Assembly on November 14, 1947, that is, to hold elections and to establish a government in Southern Korea.
The aim of the USA to consolidate the partition of Korea and deprive the Korean people of the right of self-determination was revealed so clearly that even many of those who depend on the American pocketbook did not, at this time, dare to affix their signatures to the resolution proposed by the American delegation. The United States, in spite of all its efforts, did not succeed in obtaining a unanimous vote in the Interim Committee, although it had hoped for full support in view of the absence from this Committee of the representatives of the Soviet Union and the other East European democracies.
The American resolution was passed 31 to 2, with 11 abstentions. As the London radio observed, the fact that such a large number of representatives refrained from voting proved that “many doubt the legality of the resolution that was adopted.” Characteristic in this connection is the declaration of the Canadian representative on the Interim Committee, who timidly remarked that he was not convinced that the plan proposed in the United States resolution would be acceptable to the majority of the population of Southern Korea. The Canadian representative, of course, could have said more specifically that the American plan is aimed directly against the will of the overwhelming majority of the Korean people. For this he had all the evidence at his disposal, in particular, the admission of the UN Commission on Korea itself. The chairman of this Commission was forced to admit in the Interim Committee that the sole supporters of the creation of a separate government in Southern Korea are the American stooge, Rhee Syng-man, and his so-called “Democratic Party,” which represents the big Korean landowners and industrialists. He emphasized that, in addition to the leftists and the “moderates,” even many rightist Korean leaders oppose attempts to create a national government by holding elections only in Southern Korea, inasmuch as this would lead to the consolidation of the partition of the country.
In addition to the noncommittal statements of some of the members of the Interim Committee, who spoke about the “defects” of the American plan, but who did not dare to vote against it, there were some sober voices raised at the sessions. Thus Hegglöf, the representative of Sweden, declared that he is opposed to the decision to hold elections in Southern Korea, not only because of the absence of documentary data on the real situation in Korea, but also because the United Nations Organization was not created to play the role of a tribunal for the discussion of settlements of a peaceful nature. Finn Moe, the Norwegian representative, pointed out that the acceptance of the American resolution by the Interim Committee exceeded the powers granted to it by the UN General Assembly.
The representatives of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark declared that the Korean question could not be solved without the participation of the Soviet Union.
The American delegates ignored these logical opinions. They forced through their resolution, which was indispensable to the consolidation of United States domination in Southern Korea.
Now the American authorities, with the help of the UN Commission, are making preparations to stage the comedy of elections in Southern Korea. What kind of elections they will be is no secret to anyone. Even the chairman of the UN Commission pointed out in the Interim Committee the opinion of the majority of the representatives of Southern Korea to the effect that the holding of free elections is impossible under the present American military régime. In the course of consultations with individual representatives of the “moderates” and the rightists, the Commission was informed that the police of Southern Korea abet the activities of the extreme right “Democratic Party” and suppress the genuinely democratic parties and social organizations. In one of its resolutions the Commission was forced to admit that it “experienced considerable difficulty in establishing contact with leftist organizations, many representatives of which were either in prison or under some form of police surveillance.”
Even those officials appointed by the Americans in Southern Korea, could not deny, during consultation with the Commission, that in essence Southern Korea had been transformed into a police state. The Chief Justice of Southern Korea, for instance, admitted that in the American zone no personal freedom exists, and that Japanese laws permitting arrests without a warrant are still in force, and he also admitted the possible effect of this on the elections. He declared: “If you wish to see free elections in Korea, then this system must be corrected. If you leave this system as it is, it might serve as an obstacle to the carrying out of free elections. Thus, for instance, the police can interfere in the affairs of any political party and can upset the situation as regards the elections. To achieve their purposes they can indict anyone for fraud, embezzlement, or theft. The police can arrest and detain any person from three to five months, and this could be done not only with one person but with thousands of people. They can arrest even ten or fifty thousand people and this can affect free elections. Inasmuch as the Korean people know about this, it should therefore be corrected.”
Yes, the Korean people know about this. They also know that this cannot be corrected while there are foreign troops in Southern Korea. That is why they definitely demand the withdrawal of foreign troops from Korea and the granting of their legitimate right, without any interference whatsoever from foreign states, to decide their own affairs. Only the withdrawal of foreign troops can guarantee genuinely free elections in Korea.
The Korean people greeted with indignation the decision of the Interim Committee, which was directed against the unity and independence of Korea. Undoubtedly fraud, like an awl in a sack, cannot be concealed. The so-called “elections” in Southern Korea will be exposed, as will also the organizers of this travesty upon democracy and the rights of the Korean people.