Editing 76-17-A8 (section)

=== Transcript ===
Last time, I talked about our ground forces in South Korea and why they
are so important in maintaining the peace. But maybe we need to look at a few
facts about Korea to counter the propaganda we're being subjected to.

Those who gave us defeat in Southeast Asia are at it again, painting a
picture of South Korea as a totalitarian dictatorship long on repression and
short on human rights. I agree there are some restrictions on freedom in Korea
that we, as Americans, would find pretty irksome. But wouldn't we think there might
be a few restraints acceptable here if a totalitarian power of equal size and
strength had the bulk of its military forces mobilized on a line 16 miles from
Washington, D.C.?

First, let's see how badly the South Koreans are faring under the authoritarian
administration of President Park. Gross national product has, during his 14
years, nearly quadrupled. Unemployment has been cut from more than eight percent
to less than 4 percent which, in our own country, is called full employment.
At the same time, wages on an inflation-adjusted average have risen 8.1% a year.
A World Bank study has concluded that distribution of income in South Korea
is among the most equitable in the developing world.

The Korean government adheres to a proposition that a low paying job is
better than no job at all so first priority is expanding the economy to produce
more jobs. You know, that does seem to make more sense than some of the ideas
proposed by our own welfarists. Their economy grew by 15% last year and is
expected to grow better than 9% a year for the next five. As one economist put
it, "the government gave people an opportunity to be creative". We did that once.

Now, about the widely heralded authoritarianism of President Park and his
concern about the communist threat to his nation, let's have a little review
of history. When the Soviets joined the war against Japan in the last five
minutes of World War II, they took Manchuria and swept down on Korea, bringing
Kim Il-Sung with them.

The U.S., having freed Korea from Japanese rule, hung on to Korea south of
the 38th parallel. The U.N. asked for an election by the Korean people to set
up their own government. The communists in North Korea refused, so an election
was held in the southern half of the country and the Republic of Korea was born.
In 1949, in spite of the pleas of the new Republic of Korea, we started
withdrawing our troops. In June of 1950, with no advance warning, the communists
attacked and almost drove the remaining Americans into the sea. President Truman
asked the U.N. security council for a resolution calling for the withdrawal of
the Chinese from Korea. It was killed by a Soviet veto -- they and the Red
Chinese were friends then.

Remember the cease fire agreement in 1953 which brought a meaningless end
to the fighting? It was our first no-win war. General MacArthur said at the
time that not winning that war would commit us to fighting another war one day,
probably in Vietnam. North Korea claims it is the master of all Korea and refuses
to recognize the Republic duly elected by the people. No one in North Korea had a
chance to elect anyone. I'll continue in my next broadcast. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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