895.01/325a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Gauss)
396. Syngman Rhee, Chairman of the Korean Commission in Washington, has applied to the Department for permission for Tjo So-wang, “Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Korean Provisional Government”, and four other Koreans (including one woman) now in Chungking to visit the United States for the alleged purposes of securing firsthand information regarding the situation here and of endeavoring to bring about closer cooperation among the various Korean organizations in this country.
At your discretion please discuss the proposed visit informally with U.S. Army authorities and possibly with appropriate Chinese and telegraph your comments and recommendations.
For your confidential information it is not unlikely that underlying purposes of the proposed visit of these Koreans are (1) to bring about recognition by this Government of the “Korean Provisional Government”; (2) to induce this Government to grant Lend-Lease aid to their organization here and in China; and (3) to give support to the position of Syngman Rhee which is believed to be somewhat insecure.