South Korean Fears

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31631, 18 March 1968, Page 12

South Korean Fears

The military build-up in North Korea, aided by both Russia and China, has now reached formidable proportions; the North Korean Prime Minister, Kim H Sung, seems determined to expand the second Asian front that has clearly been opened in Korea. He has pledged, indeed, to “ liberate ” the South and absorb it into a reunified Korea by 1971; and Seoul is convinced that the threat must be taken seriously. North Korea has an army of about a third of a million, with an officer corps largely trained in Russia or China. Its equipment is modern and adequate, and includes Russian T-34 tanks and a wide range of artillery and armoured vehicles. Its navy is believed to comprise over 100 ships; its air force is accounted the most powerful in eastern Asia. The air force commander, the Russian-trained General Kim Tae Hyon, is said to have about 500 supersonic MiGl7s and MiG2ls, as well as jet bombers, available for strikes south of the 38th Parallel. North Korea has its own ordnance plants, and its infantry divisions have the newest automatic weapons. It is against this background that President Park has called for a rapid expansion of the South Korean reserve army for an open confrontation of the North. He told the country on Independence Day (March 1) that the threat of Communist aggression must be countered. “ This ”, he said, “ is the only way for us •* to survive ”. At the same time he warned that infiltration across the 38th Parallel was more significant than the Pueblo affair. The South Korean Government has not concealed its anxiety over America’s small participation in the defence of the country. Early in February the Prime Minister, Chung II Kwon, formally protested to the American ambassador in Seoul about Washington’s “luke-warm attitude” to the threat of a North Korean invasion. He was critical, too, of South Korea’s exclusion from the American-North Korean talks on the seizure of the Pueblo. He told the National Assembly later that if South Korea had to undertake its own defence it could mean the withdrawal of South Korea’s 48,000 men from Vietnam and the removal of the homebased army from the United Nations command — meaning, from the direction of an American commander

President Johnson, in an appeasing gesture, offered an extra 100 million dollars in military aid—additional to the slsom to s2oom already available. The South Korean army is superior numerically to that of the North, but its equipment is less modern and less ample. The Americans, preoccupied with their exhausting commitments in Vietnam, have not been able to send the up-to-date aircraft and weapons that the South Koreans feel they need urgently. Seoul is also resisting the suggested transfer to Vietnam of American fighter squadrons sent to South Korea last month. When the Pueblo was taken, it was pointed out, there were only eight or nine American aircraft in South Korea. President Park fears that while Vietnam continues to require a major American military effort, strikes against South Korea will intensify and infiltration will increase. South Korean intelligence states that some 20,000 commando-type guerrillas are being trained for operations in South Korea, after the pattern of Hanoi’s activity in South Vietnam. President Park would like to hit hard and frequently at the Communist training bases, but has been unable to secure American co-operation. He now argues that full preparedness must be a domestic responsibility. North Korean strategy will no doubt depend significantly on what develops in Vietnam. It has been suggested that if Hanoi’s position is strengthened—or even if stalemate is reached—Kim II Sung might be almost irresistibly tempted to emulate Ho Chi Minh. - ,