894.20211 Tachibana, Itaru/19: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Grew) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 27—10 a.m.]
888. Embassy’s 871, June 24, 10 a.m.,51 arrest of Tachibana. The Foreign Minister’s secretary telephoned to a member of my staff this afternoon stating that Mr. Matsuoka had asked him to convey to me the following message:
Following the conversation with the American Ambassador at the end of May concerning the arrested missionaries in Korea, Mr. Matsuoka had discussed the question with Governor General Minami of Korea who was then in Tokyo, and had urged the desirability of settling the matter on a “political basis.” In this connection the Foreign Office had received a telegram from the Korean Government General dated June 24 stating that it had been decided to settle the arrest of the missionaries on that basis, and that the same treatment would be given them as that accorded Tachibana (the telephone connection was not clear but this person was probably meant), and the missionaries would be told to depart from Korea. The message added that the American Bureau of the Foreign Office would communicate with the Embassy as soon as details forwarded by mail from Keijo are received.
As the Governor General of Korea can hardly have had any knowledge of the Tachibana case, it can be assumed that the initiative in bringing about the above was probably taken for the Foreign Office. It will be noted that no mention was made of the Matsuo case. I have not yet discussed the Tachibana case with the Foreign Minister and will not do so on my own initiative until a reply to this telegram is received from the Department.
- Not printed.↩