Evening star., 1950-08-27

pre-invasion border along the 81
The decision on this question
American one. The United State
plans no unilateral solution o
the problem.
The u. N. cannot agree on a col
lective decision, however, unit
Washington and other member
nation capitals make up thei
minds individually what the.
think ought to be done, and a
the end of the week neither tn
United States nor any other gov
ernment seemed to have formu
lated a clear, firm policy for deal
ing with the problem.
Truman Reported Undecided
President Truman has mot de
cided in his own mind whethe,
U. N. troops should go beyonC
the 38th parallel, he told Repre-
sentative John G. Davies, Demo
crat, of New York on Wednes'
day, and the Chief Executive ap'
parently is still undecided.
Advices from Lake Success in
dicate that other U. N. member:
also have not made up theil
minds on the question.
Officials here argue that mora,
and legal considerations permit
the U. N. to send its forces north
of the 38th parallel, and may
even require it to do so.
On the other hand, policy
makers agree that a U. N. at
tempt to take over North Kores
could create a new and increased
risk of an open, major war with
Russia.
The American-and u. N.-de-
cision on North Korea will prob.
ably be determined by a weigh.
ing of these two kinds of censid-
erations. That is, it will be de-
ternlined by a balancing of what
the free nations think they are
morally and legally entitled to d.
against what they think they car
militarily afford to do.
It is hard to make a clear dis.
tinction between the legal anc
the moral justifications which
officials cite in favor of the U. NJ.
taking over all of Korea. Tht
two kinds of argument tend tx
overlap. Moreover. the only kline
of law" which is cited consists
Of interpretations of the validity
of international commitments and
obligations, and these interpreta-
tions are sometimes characterized
more strongly by moral indigna-
tion and special pleading than
they are by any clear. hard and
fast rulings and precedents.
Subject to this reservation, the
moral argument advanced here in
favor of U. N. ground operations
north of the 38th parallel can be
summed up In, these terms:
Koreans Want Unity
All Koreans, both in the NORTH
and the South. want their countr,
to be unified. The only major
disagreement among them is or
the question of the terms or
which this is to be done. Tht
Koreans are, moreover, entitled tt
national unity, as other people.
are. Korea can be unified onl,
by the U. NJ. as recent events prove
The U. N. can act effectively only
by taking over the whole country
Therefore it must do so, by fore.
if necessary.
The legal argument advanced
by officials who favor this cours,
OF action consists of three majo,
points:
First, the principal Allies O
World War II, including the So
viets, and the overwhelming ma.
Jority of U. N. members hav,
formally and legally pledged
themselves to help establish
free and unified Korea. =
Second, all U. N. members ar,
legally bound, by a valid Securit,
Council resolution, to furnish
such assistance to the Republic O
(South) Korea as may be neces
sary to repel the North Korean
armed attack and to restore in
ternational peace and security il
the area"
Third, these obligations, like tn,
moral obligations involved, cal
be discharged only by taking owe,
the entire Korean peninsula ant
suppressing the regime which ha
prevented the U. N. from &C.
complishing its lawful purpose
and which has now Compounded
this felony" by launching an un,
provoked aggression against tn,
only government in Korea which
the U. N. has declared to be legal,
constituted and which 80 U. N
members have recognized.
Cairo Commitment
Officials who advance this lega
argument cite a long list of com
nlitments by U. N. members, in
Guiding Russia, which the official
say support their view.
Before the Soviets made thei
last-minute entry into World Wa
II against Japan, the Unite,
States and Britain formal,
pledged themselves on two occa
sions to restore Korean independ
ence-meaning the independenc
of the whole country, not Just par
of it.
In the Cairo declaration of De
cember /, 1943. President Roose
velt, Prime Minister Churchill an,
Generalissimo Chang Kai-she]
asserted that "the aforesaid thre
great powers Chat is, the Unite,
States, Britain and China), mind
full of the enslavement of the peo
pie of Korea, are determined tina
in due course Korea shall becom
free and independent"
The United States and Rr;ta !,