12:01

Finally, Stalin and Kim have a decisive meeting in April 1950 in Moscow. We actually now have the Soviet records of a key part of that conversation. To the extent you can find any documentation of exactly how the Korean war begins, it would be the record of this meeting in April 1950. If you're a note taker for one of Joseph Stalin's meetings, probably the safest thing for you to do is to write really careful and accurate notes of exactly what your man said.

12:35

These records, long secret, have this really interesting passage. Let's take a close look. Comrade Stalin confirmed to Kim Il Sung that the international environment has sufficiently changed to permit a more active stance on the unification of Korea. Why? He explains his reasoning. Internationally, the Chinese Communist Party's victory over the Guomingdang, that's 1949, previous year, has improved the environment for actions in Korea.

Items