254. Memorandum From the Joint Chiefs of Staff to Secretary of Defense McNamara 0

JCSM-265-62

SUBJECT

  • Strategic Appraisal of US Position in Korea 1962-1970
1.
Reference is made to your memoranda of 26 January 1962 and 30 January 1962 to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA), respectively, concerning certain studies to be made on Korea.1
2.
In response to the above, the Joint Chiefs of Staff have conducted a study of Korea from a military standpoint. This study is appended hereto2 and includes an assessment of the communist military threat to the Republic of Korea (ROK), roles and missions of both US and ROK forces together with the necessary ROK force levels and equipment over the period extending approximately to 1970.
3.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff have re-examined the present threat; have scrutinized the relationships between the military posture in Korea and the threat to Korea and Northeast Asia; have noted the relationship of actions in Northeast Asia to those in Southeast Asia; have challenged and redetermined the minimum acceptable US/ROK military strength and structure; have re-examined the precarious balance in which the new ROK military/politico/economic structure still finds itself in this first year in power and have projected all of these considerations through 1970.
4.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff consider that the ROK is an essential element of our forward defense strategy in Northeast Asia. A reduction in ROK forces could encourage the very aggression we seek to deter. The net result of any significant reduction of ROK forces below their present levels would be increased military risk in Northeast Asia; lowering of US influence in Asia; decreasing the capability of keeping a limited war at a nonnuclear level; increasing the requirement for the augmentation of US forces and shortening the time by which these forces must be available; and encouragement of the communists to undertake further aggression.
5.
In view of the above, the Joint Chiefs of Staff agree that a reduction in ROK military strength by lowering Military Assistance would be [Page 555] directly and fundamentally counter to the US interests in Korea and Northeast Asia. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that current US/ROK force levels in Korea are the minimum acceptable for assuring the long-term security of Northeast Asia.
For the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
L.L. Lemnitzer 3
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
  1. Source: Washington National Records Center, RG 330, OSD Files: FRC 66 A 3542, Korea 320.2. Top Secret. A stamp on the source text reads: “Dep Sec has seen.”
  2. The January 26 memorandum to the Chairman of the JCS has not been found; the January 30 memorandum to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA) is ibid.
  3. The appended paper, not printed, is 53 pages long.
  4. Printed from a copy that indicates Lemnitzer signed the original.