Joint action in connection with an interim international
supervisory administration for Korea is both important and
necessary for the following reasons:
It is the opinion of the Department of State that, in view of the
international character of the problems of Korea and of the
probable inability of the Koreans to govern themselves
immediately following liberation:
[Appendix]
[Memorandum]
top secret
i. advantages of an interim
administration
The establishment of an interim international supervisory
administration or trusteeship for Korea, to function after
the termination of military government and until such time
as the Koreans are able to govern themselves, would make
possible the preparation of the Korean people for the
responsibilities and privileges which will come with
independence. Qualified Koreans could be used in the employ
of the administration and could progressively turn over the
functions of government to the Koreans themselves.
Furthermore, the establishment of such an administration
would make possible the early transfer of the functions of
military government to the administration and hence shorten
the period of military government. Finally, it would allow
those powers most vitally interested in the future of Korea
to share in the temporary supervision over Korean affairs
and it would lessen the international friction that might
develop if this supervision were left to a single power.
ii. relationship with international
organization
The draft charter of the United Nations provides that the
trusteeship system is applicable to “territories which may
be detached from enemy states as a result of this war” such
as Korea, and that a single state or the United Nations’
organization itself should be designated to exercise the
administration of a trust territory. Consequently, if
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joint action is to
be taken in connection with an interim government for Korea,
decision must be reached as to whether Korea is to be
designated as a trust area and placed under the
administration of the United Nations’ organization itself or
whether a special interim supervisory administration is
established for Korea.
iii. position of soviet union
If an interim administration for Korea is established
independently of the projected international organization,
the United States, the United Kingdom, China and the Soviet
Union would naturally wish to take an active part in such an
administration. The position of the Soviet Union in the Far
East is such that it would seem advisable to have Soviet
representation on an interim supervisory administration
regardless of whether or not the Soviet Union enters the war
against Japan.
The attitude of the Soviet Union toward an interim
administration for Korea is not known, but it is possible
that it will make strong demands that it have a leading part
in the control of Korean affairs. If such demands required
the establishment of an administrative authority in which
powers other than the Soviet Union had only a nominal voice,
it might be advisable to designate Korea as a trust area and
to place it under the authority of the United Nations’
organization itself.
iv. status of studies on korea
The studies on problems of post-war Korea undertaken by the
Department of State and the British and Chinese Foreign
Offices have not yet progressed far enough to enable the
Department to make recommendations on either the exact
structure of any interim international supervisory authority
for Korea, or the time when Korea should be granted
independence. However, it is the view of the Department that
an agreement should be reached at an early date among the
principal interested powers on the question of whether an
interim international supervisory authority is to be
established for Korea and if so what powers are to be
represented thereon in order to avoid the possibility of an
extended period of occupation and to prevent an unnecessary
postponement of Korean independence.
[Washington,]
July 4,
1945.
