Reconstruction

Now that the war was ending, the U.N. liberators of Korea faced two big problems--economic reconstruction and political reconstruction.

Thousands of dwellings had been destroyed in Seoul, Taegu, Taejon and in numberless villages. Korea's industry had been shattered. Steel and aluminum plants had been crippled or destroyed. At Hungnam, the largest fertilizer plant in Korea had been heavily damaged. Inchon's locomotive works and railway repair shop lay in ruins. Ninety per cent of South Korea's railway bridges and the majority of her electric substations had been smashed.

Most of the industrial destruction had been done by U.S. bombing. Now the bombers' deadly work would have to be repaired, primarily at the U.S. taxpayers' expense. Last week General Douglas MacArthur estimated that emergency relief for Korea's homeless millions would cost $146 million by July 1951. ECA officials estimated total war damage at $1 billion.

Vacant Seats. Korea's political problems were even more difficult. The fundamental political question was whether Syngman Rhee's government was to be tossed overboard. Certain U.N. members, who considered Syngman Rhee "reactionary" and wanted to drive him out of power, said that new elections should be held throughout Korea. Rhee's supporters argued that this would be penalizing South Korea for having been invaded. The present Republican government, they said, was the product of two U.N.-sponsored elections, the second held last May. Since 1948, the Republic had held vacant 100 seats in the National Assembly for North Korean representatives. The only elections necessary, said Rhee's supporters, would be North Korean elections.

The U.S. State Department urged that provisional local administration in North Korea should be set up by General MacArthur, should remain subject to his authority until a permanent government could be elected. The U.N. interim committee on Korea agreed with the U.S., passed a resolution requesting MacArthur to organize such civil government.

Occupied Areas. Rhee and other Republican officials reacted angrily. Said Rhee: "The plan is impossible for the Korean people to accept." Last week, ignoring the U.N. resolution, Rhee sent to the occupied areas more than 100, Republican administrators, including governors for the five North Korean provinces.

In Seoul, newsmen asked Rhee whether General MacArthur had tacitly agreed to the Republic's attempt to take power in North Korea. Said Rhee, with the aplomb of a veteran political poker player: "If he does not, he will let us know."

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