Throughout the early post-war years, Kim was wholly dependent on Moscow, and North Korea can be justly called a Soviet satellite. The Soviet Union also extended more military aid to the North in the late 1940s and early 1950s than to Mao’s armed forces during the same period. Despite the good personal relations between the Chinese and North Korean leaders, the lead-up to the war was determined almost exclusively by Stalin and Kim until a few months before the attack by the North. Kim had been pressing Stalin as early as 1949 for permission to unify the country by force by force. Attempts to ignite a takeover of the South by guerrilla warfare had failed. But Kim nevertheless hoped for a successful uprising once his troops had broken through the defences of the South. He claimed that a swift victory would ensue. Stalin, however, was concerned with the wider picture. He once told Kim that ‘the Americans’ will never agree to be thrown out of [Korea and] lose their reputation as great power’. But Stalin did not dismiss the possibility and consulted Mao. After all it was China, in Stalin’s calculations, that would have to bear the brunt of any failures. Apparently, Mao first thought that the Americans would intervene, only to backtrack on this view later. In any event Stalin continued to prevaricate. When Kim visited him in April, Stalin stressed his preoccupation with the situation in the West and urged him to consult Mao, as he had ‘a good understanding of Oriental matters’. In effect Stalin had consented, subject to Mao’s approval. But Mao had been manoeuvred into a situation where he could not disapprove. Having obtained Stalin’s promise of support for an invasion of Taiwan, Mao could hardly warn against the prospect of American intervention in Korea without inviting Stalin to draw similar conclusions about Taiwan. According to Chinese scholars, Mao, not surprisingly, urged Kim to rely upon guerrilla warfare. But Kim followed his own course with Soviet assistance.