UN General Assembly
1951

62. We must take account of one decisive factor: the steadfast and heroic resistance which United Nations forces have offered to aggression. We still lack the necessary historical perspective which would enable us to appreciate in its full and admirable significance the resistance of the United Nations to aggression in Korea. That resistance has proved decisively that the United Nations is a living force. We have succeeded in meeting an unexpected attack, by steadfast opposition in the cause of justice and law, and this resistance has prevented war from spreading to other areas included in the plan of aggression, has strengthened the hopes of all nations and, finally, has consolidated the life of our Organization. An interesting feature of this resistance, however, is its nature, moderation and limited character. Resistance was confined to precise objectives. Disregarding schemes and illusions of intensified action, we restricted ourselves to the defence of Korea and withstood the other aggression which followed later, when our task seemed to have come to an end. Such moderation, such limitation of our objectives had the great advantage of winning for us the moral approval of the world and of giving the Asian world proof of the uprightness of our intentions and of the just scope of our purposes.