4

support of Koreans who had fought with the Chinese Communists in Manchuria, set up a Communist administration. Movement between the two zones was restricted, communications were disrupted, and trade between the predominantly industrial north and the agricultural south was drastically reduced. ACTION BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY Finally convinced that further attempts to solve the problem of Korean unification and independence by bilateral negotiation were futile, the United States Government laid the issue before the General Assembly of the United Nations in September, 1947. The Soviet Union contended that the Korean question was beyond the jurisdiction of the United Nations, being a matter for settlement by the States concerned on the basis of the Moscow Agreement. It proposed, however, that Korean representatives should take part in the Assembly's discussions and that all military forces should be withdrawn from Korea at the beginning of 1948. When these proposals were defeated, the Soviet Union, backed by the five Eastern European States, refused to take further part in the debate. In spite of the unco-operative attitude of the Soviet Union, the Assembly adopted a resolution on 14 November, 1947,* establishing a United Nations Temporary Commission to observe nation-wide elections for a Korean National Assembly, which would set up a National Government and consult with the Commission on Korean independence and the early withdrawal of the occupying 1;roops. When the Temporary Commission arrived in Korea early in 1948, it was refused access to the Soviet-occupied zone, but on 12 May it observed elections in the south. A Government was accordingly brought into being in August which claimed jurisdiction over the whole country and to which the United States Military Command progressively transferred its govermental authority in South Korea. Shortly afterwards, as the result of elections which were not held under international observation, a Communist regime was set up in the north. This too claimed to be sovereign throughout Korea. At the Third Session of the General Assembly in December, 1948, the Soviet Union repeated its refusal to co-operate in any way and demanded the abolition of the Commission on Korea. The Assembly, however, extended its term of appointment and instructed it to persevere in its endeavours to promote the unity of the country. It declared, further, that the Government of the Republic of Korea was a lawful one .based on free elections, having effective control over that part of Korea accessible to the Commission and in which the great majority of the Korean people residedj, and that this was the only such Government in KoreaJ. In the spirit of the Assembly's resolution, the major

* Appendix I. I Appendix 11.

f Approximately 20 million out of a total of 29 million.