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Korean Situation At the moment attention is focused on what is happening in Korea. It is appalling that, so soon after the close of the Second World War, our way of life and our economy, in common with those of most other countries, are again threatened by war. Wilful aggression to a pattern, now, unfortunately, too well known to leave any doubt as to its origin and objective, has occurred in an unwarranted and ruthless attack upon the small Republic of South Korea. New Zealand, in fulfilment of its obligations, has responded to the call of United Nations for aid by immediately sending two naval vessels to the scene of operations, and more recently has offered to send an artillery formation to assist in repelling the invaders. Volunteers in ample numbers have offered their services for this force, which is now being organized. The spontaneous response to the call for volunteers is precisely the same as on two previous occasions when our young men came forward to defend our way of life. In addition to the naval and land forces to which I have already referred, the Royal New Zealand Air Force has for a long time had a small but extremely valuable force operating in conjunction with other Empire air units in Malaya. International Affairs Problems of economic development and living standards of South and South-east Asia have recently claimed the attention of Commonwealth Governments. The Colombo Conference recognized the urgent need for Commonwealth action to assist in the economic development of the area and more detailed discussion of the degree of assistance required and likely to be available took place later in the year. Countries in the area have been invited to produce development plans for the next six years, and these will be considered by Commonwealth countries in September. It was agreed that the Commonwealth would provide technical assistance to the total value of £8 million sterling during the next three years, and a Commonwealth Bureau has been established in Ceylon to co-ordinate this work. New Zealand is participating in the scheme. In this year's estimates £30,000 has been provided as a first instalment of New Zealand's share of the cost. It is expected that much of our contribution, at least in the initial stage, will take the form of technical training in New Zealand of people from Asia.

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