Japan, and Rhee conspired to begin the war in an effort to unify Korea (570-585). Rhee wanted to unify the country and made bellicose statements to that effect. South Korea, however, lacked the capacity to do so alone. MacArthur supported American policy in Korea prior to the time of the Chinese intervention in the Korean War.
Another theory, which is a favorite among Republican hawks, is that Secretary of State Dean Acheson invited the North Korean invasion by leaving South Korea outside the American defensive perimeter in his January 12, 1950 Press Club speech. In doing so, Acheson repeated what MacArthur and the JCS had been saying. He also cautioned in that speech that the United States bore "a direct responsibility for Korea" and in case the South Koreans could not defend themselves, "reliance must be . . . upon the commitments of the entire civilized world under the Charter of the United Nations" (Chace 222). This was not empty rhetoric because of the importance the Democratic administration accorded the UN, but his speech "was certainly n
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