"Stalin was a driving force behind the Korean War. After NATO stonewalled communism in Europe, Stalin turned to Asia. He appointed a "Little Stalin" in North Korea named Kim Il Sung and told him in 1949: "You must strike the Southerners in the teeth....Strike them, strike them." Soviet tacticians then drew up the battle plans for the North Korean invasion of the south and Kim Il Sung assured Stalin: "The attack will be swift and the war will be won in three days."