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| On January 28, the 30th year of the Republic of Korea, President Kim delivered a statement shown at left [as omitted].
I am announcing my comments as shown below that I delivered to the UN Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK); on the other hand, a morning newspaper reported that “it pays great attention that Kim Gu who seemed to stand in the same line of action with Dr. Rhee Syngman now shares same view with Dr. Kim Kyusik.” I visited Dr. Rhee in the early morning hours of the 26th, and Dr. Kim at noon, in an effort to obtain a joint view of the three of us. In the afternoon of the 25th, I also visited Dr. Cho Soang. I hope you will not mislead the society with your conjectures that are far from the truth! 1. We demand the establishment of a unified and fully autonomous government of Korea through a nation-wide general election. Therefore, we oppose any so-called separate government in the South of Korea that would result in the extension of the current military government or the full implementation of the so-called "Major Points regarding Measures for Current Political Situation in Southern Korea” (which was written by Korean officials in the current military government), or that would result in a extension of the military government in a modified manner. 2. We require that general elections be realized by the absolute free will of the people. Soviet officials in North Korea declare that the elections in the North have become the most democratic, and American officials in the South Korea do not affirm this and declare that the freest democratic elections can be held in the South, but it is almost a matter of public opinion in the South that, just as the Communist Party conducted undemocratic elections in the face of the Soviet military government, the one party (editor’s comment: then the Korea Democratic Party) will conduct undemocratic elections in the South under the American military government. Therefore, we can't help but oppose this if we state that free elections can be held only verbally or in writing without any substantial improvement in the current situation (such as the construction of a free environment for the people to elect freely), and then proceed with the elections only formally as they are. 3. We demand that the United Nations not use the pretext of the Soviet Union's refusal to enter North Korea as an excuse to neglect its mandate. If the United Nations gives up its mission to establish a sovereign, independent and unified government of Korea with an excuse of Soviet Union’s refusal of its entrance to the North or attempts to deploy different tasks on the contrary to its mission, it will certainly trigger serious repercussion as follows. (1). Korea, which has been fighting (Fascist) Japan for decades and has suffered the most because of it, is being divided and occupied by the U.S.-Soviet Union, which holds an important position among the allies because of the victory of the allies against Japan, and their treatment to Korea and conditions imposed on it are even worse than Japan's, which is to say, it is certainly encouraging fascist Japan. (2). It will cultivate a strong spirit of unity and will incur the wrath of lovers of justice and peace throughout the world. (3). It will disappoint weak countries and peoples. (4). It will be the UN who takes over the responsibility of dividing Korea from the U.S. and Soviet Union. (5). The prestige of the UN will be tarnished and by this, the world order will be broken into disorder again. 4. We demand the release of all political prisoners currently being held or attempted to be held in both the North and the South of Korea (including the release of the Honorable Cho Mansik, who is imprisoned in North Korea). We are not calling for the release of political prisoners only in the South of Korea or only in the North. but in both regions simultaneously. 5. We demand immediate withdrawal of the U.S.-Soviet troops from Korea, with the United Nations temporarily assuming responsibility for security during the so-called vacuum. The Soviet Union's insistence on the immediate withdrawal of U.S. and Soviet troops from Korea in order to establish an independent unified Korean government is justified in principle, as it would allow the Korean people to freely and democratically hold a general election and establish a unified government. The U.S. insistence that the two occupying forces withdraw after the establishment of the Korean government is not unreasonable, in anticipation of the chaos that would result from the so-called vacuum created by the withdrawal of the two armies. However, it would be a grave error if the U.S. and Soviet Union were to sacrifice Korea more than this by insisting on inevitably contradictory demands. Therefore, there must be a compromise. That compromise is the immediate withdrawal of U.S.-Soviet troops and the temporary assumption of security responsibilities in Korea by the United Nations. Since the resolution of the Korean problem has been transferred from the U.S.-Soviet Union to the UN, it would make sense for the UN to assume that responsibility. Once the U.S.-Soviet troops are withdrawn and the UN is in charge of public order, and all existing military or quasi-military groups in the North and the South are disarmed to go into a peace mood, the UN will be able to fulfill its purpose of monitoring, and Koreans will be able to hold a free election. It would be appropriate for the unified government established by this democratic process to immediately establish a national defense force, and for the UN to relinquish its policing responsibilities as soon as the national defense force is established. 6. We call for a meeting of North and South Korean leaders. The Korean people will eventually solve the Korean problem. If the Koreans themselves cannot come up with a common plan to solve the Korean problem, the UN's cooperation will be futile. Therefore, a meeting of North and South Korean leaders is necessary at any given time. However, this cannot be accomplished in the current lousy environment. Therefore, we propose to convene a meeting of the leaders of North and South Korea under peaceful conditions as soon as the U.S. and Soviet. troops withdraw, and to draw up a plan for joint efforts to fulfill the purpose of the complete independence of our nation and the eternal liberation of the people. |
