Korea : The Russians Return
The Russian-North Korean conference in Moscow came to a highly successful conclusion for Kim Il-sung, the North Korean Prime Minister, and his colleagues. Whatever the prospecti of unifying Korea—the paragraph concerning this in the official statement on the conference is surprisingly optimistic and pacific in tone—it is now quite certain that Russia does not intend to let United Nations, and particu- larly American, material support for the southern half of that battered country be without its proper counterpart in the northern half. Russia's grant of 1,000 million roubles is a generous one; in addition to this, the repayment of past credits has been postponed and their terms considerably eased. This is the latest example of Russia's new policy of seeking advan- tage by giving rather than taking, seen already in the more favourable terms of economic aid granted to China, and, before that, in the concessions to East Germany. The Moscow state- ment says that both Russians and North Koreans are agreed that " the conclusion of the armistice in Korea has created con- ditions easing the peaceful settlement of the Korean question on the basis of the national unification of Korea and giving the Korean people themselves the opporunity to decide the question of the State structure of Korea. Meanwhile the news from Lake Success makes the peace conference on Korea seem remote enough. Formal deadlock has not yet been reached, and perhaps it will indeed be avoided; but beneath, the ill- tempered exchanges one can hear a Russian voice and an American voice murmuring for once together : " This is where we came in—eight years ago."
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