Korean War #15: Ignorance Is Bliss (Patreon)

Episode 15: Ignorance Is Bliss examines the behaviour of the US towards its South Korean ally. Since the American strategy was now to lure North Korea into attacking, we'll see in this episode exactly how determined the Truman administration was to chronically underfund and jeopardise the security of Seoul. Ignoring the protests, concerns and urgency professed even by some of its own State Department staff, the US behaved as though it had no concept of what was happening in South Korea in spring 1950, and that it did not know that the Soviets were now actively supporting the North as it prepared to invade.

If the North planned to invade, Washington planned to make South Korea as juicy a target as possible for its neighbours. Only in this way would the conflict necessary for the realisation of NSC68 be achieved. So Syngman Rhee was faced with complaints from Washington that inflation in his country was rife, and that he would have to sort this out before sufficient military aid would be provided. Where Rhee protested that his state was desperately vulnerable in light of rumours of Northern rearmament, Acheson(pictured here with Truman) stalled, and presented the South Korean regime as too beligerent to be trusted with greater defensive capabilities, a claim which has mostly stuck to this day.

In the height of his desperation, the uninformed American ambassador to South Korea, John J Muccio, would attempt to travel to Washington and make his case. As he planned his trip, it was difficult to believe that the Truman administration could indeed be this grossly incompetant and ignorant of the situation. As we'll see, this conventional explanation for why the US ignored the repeated warnings doesn't hold up particularly well under scrutiny. It's time to challenge what you think you know, and I'm here as always to help you do that!

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Music Used:

 "Gloomy Sunday", by Paul Whiteman, released in 1936. This iconic tune was made use of during the Hungarian revolts. It is indeed a gloomy tune, but also one of immense quality, so I hope you enjoy it! You can find it free here: https://archive.org/details/PaulWhitemanwithJohnnyHauser