Rhee Calls For U.S. Aid In War Against New China

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27415, 30 July 1954, Page 11

Rhee Calls For U.S. Aid In War Against New China

WASHINGTON, July 28. 1 The President of South Korea (Dr. 1 Syngman Rhee) today urged the . United States to end the “unwise 1 armistice” in Korea and to back his < nation in an assault on Communist i China. ’ In a speech before a joint session of Congress, Dr. Rhee said that the South ] Korean Army now was the strongest anti-Communist force in Asia. “If the United States could help build up this force, together with the air and sea strength in adequate proportion, I can assure you that no American soldier would be required to fight in the Korean theatre of action,” said Dr. Rhee. The United States Air Force and Navy would be needed to ensure the success of the attack on Communist China, “but ... no American foot soldier,” he said. He claimed that the Nationalist Government in Formosa had offered 630,00 C men of its armed forces as an additional reserve. “Let us remember that peace cannot be restored in the world half Communist and half Democratic,*’ he said. “Your momentous decision is needed now to make Asia safe for freedom, for that will automatically settle the world Communist problem in Europe, Africa, and America.” Soviet troops might “perhaps” intervene to defend China, Dr. Rhee said. “But that would be excellent for the free world, since it would justify the destruction of the Soviet centres of production by the American Air Force before the Soviet hydrogen bombs had been produced in quantity.” he said. “I’m aware that this is a hard doctrine But the Communists have made this a hard world, a horrible world, in which to be soft is to become a slave,” he said. „ . , "Within a few years the Soviet Union will possess the means to vanquish the United States. We must act now,” he said. There were 1,500,000 young South Koreans asking nothing better than to fight for the cause oi human freedom, their honour, and their nation. Chinese “Feet of Clay” Dr. Rhee described the Communist regime in China as a “monster with feet of clay.” He declared that air though 15,000,000 opponents of the regime had been murdered, thousands of guerrillas were still fighting in the interior of China. The Communist army numbered 2 500,000, but its loyalty was not reliable, as had been illustrated by the fact that 14.369 prisoners taken in Korea had asked to be sent to ForThe Chinese economy was extremely vulnerable. Dr. Rhee said. Sixty per cent, of its imports reached it by sea and a blockade by the United States Navy “would produce chaos m its communications.” “The return of the Chinese mainland to the side of the free world would automatically produce a victorious end to the wars m Korea and Indo-China, and would swing the balance of power so strongly 1 the Soviet Union that it would not i dare to risk war with the United ■ States” Dr. Rhee said. Unless we > win China back, an ultimate victory 1 for the free world is unthinkable. Dr Rhee said the Soviet strategy for : world conquest was »e United states “into a sleep of death by laiK - ing peacT until the Soviet Union pcs- ' sefsed enough hydrogen bombs for a i knock-out sneak attack. ’ - °We know that we cannot count on S(oFiet promises.’’ he said. * Thirty-six » years of experience have taughi us ' that Communists never respect a

treaty if they consider it in their interest to break it . . . “The Soviet Union will not stop of its own volition. It must be stopped.” Appealing for expanded United States help in building up Korea’s* forces, he said: “The forces of Communist tyranny still hold the initiative throughout the world. On the Korean front, the guns are silent for the moment, stilled temporarily by the unwise armistice which the enemy is using to build up his strength. “Now that the Geneva Conference has come to an end with no result, as, predicted, it is quite in place 'to declare the end of the armistice.” Dr. Rhee told Congressmen that Communist airfields, newly-constructed in defiance of the armistice terms and furnished with jet bombers, were only less than 10 minutes away from the South Korean National Assembly. “Yet death is scarcely closer to Seoul than Washington,” he said. “For the destruction of the United States is Ihe prime objective of the conspirators of the Kremlin. The Soviet Union’s hydrogen bombs may well be dropped on the great cities of America even before they are*dropped on our shattered towns.”