It wasn't exactly that obvious at the time. IIRC North Korea outperformed the south in the 60s and didn't really fall significantly behind until decades after t

It wasn't exactly that obvious at the time. IIRC North Korea outperformed the south in the 60s and didn't really fall significantly behind until decades after the war. After the war South Korea was both extremely poor and ruled by a very brutal and oppressive regime. Which if we're being fair was not that that different compared to the North (which actually had a stronger economy at the time due to Soviet support). > If they had just worked with the US peacefully they could have achieved similar results way earlier. It's not like they really had a choice? Truman ignored Ho Chi Minh in the 40s and later the US stayed neutral until deciding to back the French in their colonial war in Vietnam. Communist countries were willing to help the Vietnamese to fight for their indepence (well.. oversimplification but the French were pretty brutal and they South Vietnamese regime they put in place after the withdrawal was dominated by Catholics who were only ~10% of the population) so it was pretty much their only choice unless they wanted to remain a colony.