[War & Business] The Korean Soldier Who Moved MacArthur

Soldiers of the Republic of Korea Army advancing out of the trenches during the Nakdong River defense line battle in September 1950
[Image source= National Archives of Korea website]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] A story that has recently regained attention amid the Afghanistan crisis is the anecdote of General Douglas MacArthur meeting a Korean boy soldier. The strong will shown by the Korean boy soldier is being compared to the Afghan government troops who fled every battle, and is being talked about.

On June 29, 1950, General MacArthur, then Supreme Commander of the U.S. Far East Command, met a Korean boy soldier who was alone in a trench while visiting the Han River defense line to inspect the Korean War front. When General MacArthur asked the boy soldier, "How long will you guard the trench alone?" the boy soldier replied, "I must guard it at the risk of my life until I receive an order to withdraw from my superior." When asked again if he needed anything, the boy soldier answered, "I only hope to be supplied with weapons and ammunition."

General MacArthur said, "A country with such brave soldiers must never fall. We must support Korea with all our strength," and before the joint chiefs of staff in the homeland issued orders, he mobilized available forces of the Far East Command and ordered support for the Korean army. In his later memoirs, he revealed, "At that time, the Korean army was very inferior in weapons and equipment, but their strong will to fight made me think it was worth fighting even in unfavorable conditions."

Until that inspection, General MacArthur was reportedly quite negative about supporting the Korean army. Seoul, the capital, had already fallen on June 28, and the hastily assembled Han River defense line, made up of about 8,000 retreating soldiers, was expected to hold out only briefly. U.S. intelligence agencies mostly held a pessimistic view that the war would end within ten days, and the U.S. government was even hesitant to provide weapons support to the Korean army.

In this situation, when General MacArthur suddenly issued an order to support the Korean army, there was severe opposition within the Far East Command. However, General MacArthur overcame all resistance by saying, "There is an army to protect a democratic country, but there is no democracy in the army," and pushed forward with support for the Korean army. Thanks to this, the history of the Republic of Korea, now a world-leading semiconductor powerhouse, could begin.

In the Afghanistan war, the reason the Taliban was able to quickly reverse the situation was not a matter of military strength. The Afghan government army, which had grown to 300,000 troops and received over 100 trillion won in U.S. military support over 20 years, had excellent combat capabilities due to long-term joint training with U.S. forces. However, the reason they collapsed so quickly against the Taliban, who had no tanks or fighter jets, was ultimately judged to be a matter of will. Even the U.S. military, the world's strongest force, could not buy the will to defend the country with money.