By The Joong Ang Ilbo has an interesting interview with the former head of the South Korean military during the Korean War, General Paik Sung-yup. Here is an excerpt of the answer General Paik gave
Gen. Paik Sun-yup discusses an operation with U.S. Maj. Gen. Frank W. Milburn, in charge of the I Corps, right after entering Pyongyang on Oct. 19, 1950, when Paik was the commander of the First Division. Provided by Gen. Paik Sun-yup
A total of 16 divisions needed to be placed along the 155-mile truce line, which was tremendous work and required lots of equipment and material, but Korea was simply in no financial shape to cover the bill. The United States did it. Soldiers were fed, while ammunition, fuel and weapons were provided. And it wasn’t only the military aid but the economic aid of $30 million per year that helped us. Glass factories in Incheon, fertilizer factories in Chungju were all established with U.S. investment and technology. All this laid the grounds for Korea’s economic development. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
Make sure to read the rest and if you haven’t already make sure to read General Paik’s book, From Pusan to Panmunjom as well. It is one of the best Korean War books available and the only one written in English that describes the Korean War from the ROK Army’s perspective.
3:14 pm on January 29th, 2010 1
Good stuff.
3:06 am on January 30th, 2010 2
Certainly the greatest living Korean hero. I wonder which Afghan or Iraqi leader will be making such statements in 60 years:
“To be sure, there were a lot of sacrifices made. But there were other aspects to the war as well. For instance, having or not having the capability to fully utilize what others provide was also very important. The Korean War introduced Western culture, and all its goods came to Korea in the form of everything the United States brought to the country. Korea successfully digested those things, defended democracy and freedom and after the war successfully industrialized and became what it is today. The Korean War was without doubt a sad tragedy in which people of the same race shed blood, but the war acted also as a catalyst that transformed the country, and beneath that change is the blood and sweat of three million soldiers from all over the world, including our very own.”
But I love this assessment of GEN MacArthur:
“Gen. Douglas MacArthur left a very strong impression on me. He was big-minded and came up with the most brilliant strategies, but lost out on small things because he was careless. The misjudgment that China would not enter the war when Allied forces were pushing North and were looking to the possible unification of the Korean Peninsula was crucial. This was because he listened too much to his aides.”
(I think that according to GEN Paik’s book, From Pusan to Panmunjom, the ROK 1st Division was reporting that they were capturing Chinese prisoners as early as 5 October while they were conducting their infiltration operations of the Peninsula and it was the MacArthur’s G2, Willoughby I think, who said something to the effect that there are a lot of Mexicans in Texas but that does not mean Mexico is invading the US)
2:56 pm on January 30th, 2010 3
$30 million a year in aide. I like that.
3:34 pm on February 9th, 2010 4
Not sure what you mean but aid US gave to S Korea was the best investment made by US IMO.
12:02 pm on February 10th, 2010 5
$30 million to South Korea, in comparison to mega 'billions' given in economic aide to Iraq, Afganistan, and Pakistan. The corruption in these places is so bad, special systems must be put in place to ensure the money gets where it is suppose to. Even then the Governments get upset about the rules. After all 'stealing from foriegners' is tradition, and the US is being insensitive.
Thats what I mean.