Editorial Note
At his news conference on the afternoon of March 29, President Truman was asked several questions on the MacArthur statement and the 38th parallel. He made no comment on the former matter, and on the latter simply reiterated the United States position that there had been no change in the basic policy favoring unification of Korea which did not, however, imply that United Nations forces would proceed to the Yalu. The General’s instructions, he said, remained unchanged, affording him tactical authority to cross the parallel, but no one, continued the President, could anticipate the eventual military situation in Korea. The President several times referred to and expressed consonance with a statement made by Secretary of Defense Marshall on March 27 to the effect that a general advance across the parallel would be a matter for political and not military decision. (Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1951, pages 203–207)