Show Marquis Childs Korea Results Boost Red Propaganda v WASHINGTON July 28 A 28 A number of letters that have come to me indicate confusion on the question of North Korean Korean Korean Ko Ko- Ko- Ko rean aggressiveness vs VB South Korean resistance or the lack of it Americans are arc dismayed because their side had done dene doneso so well weB and our eur side so poorly A stereO stereotype type is ready nt at hand to explain it This piece of rubberstamp rubberstamp rubberstamp rub rub- stamp ber-stamp thinking goes more mere or less as follows The North Korean armies arc are eager to fight because they are fighting for a government that gave g them something to fight for land for land reforms higher standards standards standards stand stand- ards of living living- By contrast the South Seuth Korean government was run by reactionaries out of the past who were unwilling to make concessions to Democratic tic self- self government This stereotype owes o a great deal to years of Communist propaganda This propaganda has hns sought to make it appear that the western democracies were decadent and helpless while communism was vas a a. a dynamic force that must inevitably tri tri- The extent to which that propaganda has seeped into peoples peoples' peo pee peeples' peeples peoples peoples' ples' ples minds is shown by the readiness of many to accept the rubber stamp on Korea Truth More Complicated The truth is always so 50 much more mere complicated than any propaganda propaganda propaganda prop prop- line And that goes double deuble or triple for fer this nasty bus business ness in Korea It should be said first of all aU that the South Seuth Korean army in spite of ef almost overwhelming handicaps and appalling initial reverses is giving a n much better better better bet bet- ter account of itself than most American newspaper ne readers are aware of That is chiefly because American war correspondents I assume that American readers are interested almost almest solely in what American troops are do do- ing But military reports to the Pentagon indicate that at one point recently the South Koreans were holding holding- three to four times as much of the line as were American forces Equally noteworthy is the fact that the government of ef the South Seuth Korean republic seems to have la held together even though it has been driven from frem town to town southward down the peninsula Logically one might have expected utter breakdown chaos and perhaps major majer defections defections defections de de- de- de to the enemy New to Democracy After centuries of feudalism and more than 40 years of ef oppressive oppressive oppressive op op- op- op Japanese rule the Koreans Koreans Ko Ke- Ko- Ko reans were very new to the concept concept concept con con- of democratic self govern ment Add to this the lack of knowledge of American military commanders who occupied the country south seuth of the parallel parallel parallel par par- in 1945 and who may have made initial mistakes The The wonder is not net that the government of ef crabbed o 0 1 I d Rhee had faults and weaknesses The wonder is that South Seuth Korea could hold held a free election on May 30 of this year an election which showed heavy losses for the pro-government pro and opposition parties and significant significant significant sig sig- gains for the Ute middle the of After all aU we in inthis inthis inthis this country have been in the business of self government for fer years or more mere and I think there would be few to argue that we have achieved tion Another Anether factor too toe often overlooked overlooked over over- looked is that everything that happened in South Seuth Korea happened happened happened hap hap- in a goldfish bowl The mistakes the fumbles the false starts everything was reported in both beth the Communist and nonCommunist nonCommunist non non- Communist halves of the world Sealed Away In contrast North Korea was sealed away even from a commission commission com com- mission of the United Nations All that came out was vas prepa- prepa ganda But we know very well that what went on in North Korea Korea Ko Ko- rea was not net the trial and error method of democracy It was a completely hard- hard boiled operation conducted under under un un- der the cloak of a wholly deceptive deceptive deceptive tive propaganda using words such as peace and democracy democracy racy that the west takes on faith A fighting force was built up with all aU the techniques of indoctrination in indoctrination in- in Intimidation bribe and reward threat and reprisal Then this was equipped quipped with the modern weapons of ag ag- I The method of communism in inan inan inan I an area such as North Korea is brutal ruthless totalitarian totalitarian-a a gangster operation conducted behind a screen of propaganda The method of democracy is slow and often painful The United States may be criticized for having having having hav hav- ing tried to introduce too toe abruptly the difficult tenets of democracy where peoples peeples had lived so long in colonialism But it is only through this slow slew and painful process that true independence independence independence inde inde- and freedom can ever be achieved Copyright 1950 by United Feature Syndicate |