“If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear a hundred battles.” – Sun Tzu
Upon the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, Americans looked to General Douglas MacArthur for leadership to end the Korean War. MacArthur was one of the most popular, decorated and powerful military figures in the U.S. When North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, MacArthur was put in charge of the UN forces in South Korea. MacArthur’s final plan was to invade North Korea and end their reign of terror but was nixed by Harry S Truman when he fired MacArthur. North Korea has been a global threat and liability since then. Most historians claim that was the worst decision Truman ever made.
According to the Bill Of Rights Institute, Truman acted within his presidential powers firing General MacArthur. But the way it was done, in the middle of a war, it was an unethical and bad decision.
Founded under the communist bloc, North Korea and Russia both have a long history as Marxist partners. The Soviets supported North Korea during the Korean War and recognized North Korea’s military state on October 12, 1948. North Korea had officially recognized Crimea as part of Russia in 2017, thereby supporting Moscow’s position at the international level. North Korea has sided with Russia on every attempt to increase their global dynamism over the U.S. and all U.S. world allies.
When North Korea recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, supported by Russia, this immediately ended relations between Ukraine and North Korea. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, North Korea has continued to supply Russia with ammo and war supplies. In the fall of 2024, North Korea sent its army into Russia to fight against Ukraine under Russian command. Since Russia and North Korea have been close allies for 75 years, nations around the globe knew this was coming. It was just a matter of when.
Relations between Russia and North Korea have been flourishing in recent years, with North Korea supplying troops and ammunition to Russia in return for military and economic assistance. The war in Ukraine has escalated this relationship. Driven by Russia’s need for ammunition and N. Korea’s need for food and energy, these burgeoning ties pose challenges for the U.S. and its allies in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S. cannot protect the free world order alone.
Support from European allies, hungry for Russian energy, could replace any doors left open in Ukraine with U.S. support for the war in question. Russian technology could also boost N. Korea’s satellite, nuclear submarine, and ICBM programs, making them a legitimate threat to the U.S.
As the Russian-Ukrainian war continued to escalate, Joe Biden and the Democrats allowed the relations between rogue military Russia and North Korea to fester while he and his Congress tiptoed around the reality of this regional war turning into a deadly global conflict. The world community has stood around and done nothing for 75 years as these two unpredictable nations continue to build a united military capable of turning world peace into a world war.
Recognizing the threat of a united security front formed by Japan, the U.S. and South Korea against North Korea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke recently at North Korea’s eastern Wonsan city, where he met the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un. He spoke enthusiastically about the growing relationship between Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and promised to protect North Korea from any attacks from any nations that try to interfere with North Korea’s ammunition production factories since they are the number one ammo supplier for Russia.
Kim in turn reaffirmed his government’s commitment to “unconditional support for Russia’s military build up.” Kim also said that his government supported all measures taken by Russia in its conflict with Ukraine and any additional endeavors taken by Russia to increase the strength and power of Russia’s military for the purpose of gaining military dominance over the U.S. and its allies.
According to North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang and Moscow share identical views on “all strategic issues in conformity under their alliance.” Lavrov called for the two countries to further strengthen their “strategic and tactical cooperation and intensify joint action” in international affairs. This was reported by KCNA, which is ultimately controlled by North Korea’s Propaganda and Agitation Department, which spreads their goals and objectives internationally.
According to Russia’s state Tass news agency, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and his North Korean counterpart Choe Son Hui accused the U.S., South Korea and Japan of what he called military buildups around North Korea to intimidate them and encourage them to cut back on the amount of ammunition they are making and selling to Russia. Lavrov added, “We warn everyone against exploiting our ties to build coalitions against anyone, besides North Korea and Russia.”
The U.S., South Korea and Japan have expanded their trilateral military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program. The three countries held a joint air drill involving U.S. nuclear-capable bombers near the Korean Peninsula as their top military officers met in Seoul and urged North Korea to cease all unlawful activities threatening global and regional security.
Truman’s firing of General MacArthur and not allowing him to occupy North Korea during the Korean War has allowed North Korea to threaten world peace for years. It has allowed Kim Jong Un and his predecessors to build one of the world’s most unpredictable and dangerous military regimes in world history. It has been one of the most feared countries in the world for over seven decades. And this recently accelerated relationship between North Korea and Russia due to the Russian-Ukrainian war has raised the bar for North Korea as an arms supplier for weapons.
Truman was asked many times by reporters and historians why he ousted General MacArthur in the middle of the Korean War. MacArthur was directing all U.S. and UN troops. Yet Truman bluntly claims that as president he had the power to do whatever he wished since MacArthur disobeyed his orders although he had not completed his mission.
Truman and MacArthur were polar opposites and seldom agreed on anything. MacArthur did not defy Truman because of his ego as Truman had repeatedly claimed. MacArthur had a chance to take out a dangerous Communist leader and restore democracy in one of the poorest nations in the world. His problem was he had a president who did not like his style of leadership or him.
Today the global community is faced with the challenge of accepting the status quo of a powerful North Korea aligned with Russia or to be prepared to fight back for world freedom, and liberty.
