Extension of military aid by the United States to the National Government might possibly be followed by similar aid from the Soviet Union to the Chinese Communists, either openly or covertly—the latter course seems more likely. An arena of conflicting ideologies might be created as in 1935 in Spain. There is always the possibility that such developments in this area, as in Europe and the Middle East, might precipitate a third world war. PART III—KOREA POLITICAL The major political problem in Korea is that of carrying out the Moscow Agreement of December, 1945, for the formation of a Provisional Korean Government to be followed by a Four-Power Trusteeship over Korea. The United States-Soviet Joint Commission, established in accordance with that Agreement, reached a deadlock in 1946 in the effort to implement the Moscow Agreement due to Soviet opposition to consultations with the Commission by all Korean democratic parties and social organizations, as provided for in that Agreement. Soviet motives have been to eliminate the extreme rightist groups in the United States zone from consultations and subsequently from participation in the new government thus ensuring a Communist-dominated government in Korea. Soviet objections to such consultations have been based on the rightist groups’ openly expressed opposition to trusteeship, while the United States has taken the position that to disqualify these groups would deprive a large section of the Korean people of an opportunity to express views regarding their government. A resumption of the Joint Commission meetings in May, 1947, following an exchange of notes between Secretary Marshall and Foreign Minister Molotov, resulted in a further deadlock on the same issue, although these notes had established a formula which would have permitted participation in consultation by the rightist groups in question. After the Soviet Government failed to reply to Secretary Marshall’s note of August 12, requesting the submission by the Commission of a joint status report or separate reports by each Delegation, the United States Delegation, on August 20, transmitted a unilateral report to Washington. An American proposal then made to China, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union for a Four-Power Conference to discuss Korea has been agreed to by China and the United Kingdom, but has been rejected by the Soviet Union. Internally, the Korean problem has been complicated by the Soviet establishment of a Communist regime in North Korea and by the machinations in South Korea of Communist groups, openly hostile to the United States. * * * * *