Book Review: The United Nations and the Peaceful Unification of Korea
| Author | Alastair M. Taylor |
| Published date | 01 September 1961 |
| Date | 01 September 1961 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070206101600310 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
27
The
combination
of
thorough
research
and
a
grasp
of
the
realities
of
international
politics
makes
this
one
of
the
very
best
books
yet
written
about
the
United
Nations.
Toronto
JOHN
HOLMES
THE:
UNITED
NATIONS
AND
THE
PEACEFUL
UNIFICATION
OF
KOREA.
The
Politics
of
Field
Operation,
1947-1950.
By
Leon
Gordenker.
1959.
(The
Hague:
Martinus
Nijoff.
xiii,
306pp.
18.75
guilders).
The
sudden
North
Korean
attack
across
the
38th
parallel
on
June
25,
1950
and
its
tragic
consequences
for
the
still-divided
peninsula
have
obscured
the antecedents
of
a
Cold
War-turned-hot which
for
a
time
threatened
to
explode
into World
War
mI.
Since
knowledge
of
those antecedents
is
essential
in
order
to
assess
the
conflicting
inter-
pretations
of
the
genesis of
the
Korean
War,
we
are
indebted
to
Pro-
fessor
Gordenker
for
his
detailed
account
of how
the
United
Nations
laboured
for
three years
in
obscurity to
bring
about
the
peaceful
unification
of
an
artificially
sundered
land-and
why
it
failed.
Three
commissions
operated
under
a
General
Assembly
mandate
"to
travel,
observe
and
consult
throughout
Korea."
Yet
from
the
outset-because
of
intractable
Soviet
opposition-their
activities were
restricted
to
the
southern
portion
of
the
peninsula.
The
first
commission
observed
the
election
of
1948
which
led
to
the
creation
of
the
Republic
of Korea
and
its recognition
by
the
General
Assembly-or rather
by
the
non-
Soviet
majority-as
"the
only
such
Government
in
Korea."
The
second
commission
had
to
contend
with
the
prickly
regime
of
American-
supported Syngman
Rhee
who
wanted
little
consultation
with-still
less
advice
from-the
United
Nations
field
machinery.
The
third
body
in
turn
suffered
from
progressively
diminished
prestige, but
it
was able
to
record
the
attack
from
the
north
that
forced
the
United
Nations
to
take
up
arms
to
repel
aggression.
Dr.
Gordenker
has
based
his
authoritative
study
upon
both
his
personal
experiences
in
Korea
as
a
member
of
the
United
Nations
Secretariat and
his
access to
official
documents.
As
he
points
out,
the
Organization
had
only
"a
facilitative
role,
not
the
power
of
absolute
decision,
in
unification"
(p.
213).
Indeed,
its
field
machinery
was
assigned
an
impossible
task,
since
unification
could
only
have
been
brought
about
by
agreement
between
the
United
States
and
the
U.S.S.R.
-and
had
they
sought
to
achieve
this
end,
there
would
have
been
no
need
for
any
field
machinery.
On
the
face
of
things,
this
was
an
exercise
in
futility.
Hence
it is
proper to
ask:
what,
if
anything,
did
the
field
organs
accomplish,
and
what
lessons can
be
drawn
from
this
phase
of
the
United
Nations'
experience
in
Korea?
The
original
commission
performed
a
useful
technical service
in
the manner
in
which
it
observed
the
1948
election.
Dr.
Gordenker
demonstrates
that
the
field
machinery
was
regarded
seriously
before
the
Republic of
Korea
came
into
being,
only
to
be
denigrated
sub-
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