Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1945, The British Commonwealth, The Far East, Volume VI

740.00119 Control (Korea)/10–2445

Report by the State-War-Navy Coordinating Subcommittee for the Far East⁶

October 24, 1945

SWNCC 101/4

The Problem

1. To determine whether there should be an international trusteeship for Korea pending full Korean independence and, if so, the form of such trusteeship and the policies to be followed in connection therewith.

2. To determine the functions and relationships of such a trusteeship with military government in Korea and with the United Nations Organization.

Facts Bearing on the Problem

3. See Appendix “A”.

Discussion

4. See Appendix “B”.

Conclusions

5. Following the termination of Japanese sovereignty and of military government, Korea should be established, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations relating to an International Trusteeship System, as a trust territory, no part of this territory should be designated as a strategic area.

6. The United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China are the nations which should be regarded as “the states directly concerned” with Korea within the meaning of Article 79 of the Charter of the United Nations. As soon as practicable, these four powers should enter into a trusteeship agreement containing the terms under which Korea will be administered and designating themselves jointly as the “administrative authority” in accordance with Article 79, 81 and other appropriate articles of the Charter of the United Nations.

7. Appendix “C” should be approved as a statement of United States policy with respect to an international trusteeship for Korea.

Recommendations

8. It is recommended that:

a. This report be forwarded to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for comment from the military point of view; and

b. Upon approval by the SWNCC of the “Conclusions” in paragraphs 5 and 6 above and of the policy statement contained at Appendix “C”;

(1) The report be transmitted to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and to the War and Navy Departments for their information, and to the Department of State for its guidance and appropriate implementation.

(2) A statement substantially the same as that shown at Appendix “D” be released to the press when considered appropriate by the Department of State.

[Enclosure 1]

Appendix “A”

Facts Bearing on the Problem

1. The Cairo Declaration states:

“The three great Allies are fighting this war to restrain and punish the aggression of Japan.

“They covet no gain for themselves and have no thought of territorial expansion.

. . . . . . .

“The aforesaid three great powers, mindful of the enslavement of the people of Korea, are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent.”

2. The Soviet Union in its declaration of war on Japan on 9 August 1945 stated that:

“Loyal to its Allied duty, the Soviet Government has accepted the proposal of the Allies and has joined in the declaration of the Allied powers of July 26.”

With reference to the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Declaration of 26 July 1945, issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and China stated that:

(8) The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.

3. President Roosevelt proposed to Generalissimo Stalin at Yalta that an international trusteeship should be established for Korea, to be administered by the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the Republic of China. On 28 May 1945, Generalissimo Stalin agreed to this proposal in his conversation with Mr. Hopkins.

4. The Charter of the United Nations provides for an International Trusteeship System in Articles 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 84, 85, and 87. (See Annex “A”⁷ to Appendix “A”).

[Enclosure 2]

Appendix “B”

Discussion

1. The United States, the United Kingdom and the Republic of China have stated in the Cairo Declaration that they “are determined that in due course Korea shall become free and independent”. The Soviet Union indicated its support of the Cairo Declaration when it declared war on Japan.

2. No time has been set as to when Korea should become independent, but this should, of course, be accomplished as quickly as possible after liberation. The question arises as to whether or not military government in Korea should be extended beyond the period necessary to disarm the Japanese to continue until Korea becomes free and independent. Considerations which militate against such an extension are (a) that military government is not specifically designed to cope with the difficult and complex problems that will inevitably arise in transforming a former colonial territory such as Korea into an independent state, and (b) that the American people will probably not desire an extended military occupation of Korea beyond the time designated by military necessity. It would therefore seem advisable to terminate military occupation as early as practicable.

3. The United States, by its acceptance of the Charter of the United Nations, favors an international trusteeship system for certain types of territories such as Korea. Both the internal and external factors connected with the liberation of Korea and the establishment of Korean independence are so complex that some form of international trusteeship would seem necessary following military government. It is the policy of the United States, as indicated by the plan suggested by President Roosevelt to Generalissimo Stalin at Yalta, that an international trusteeship should be established for Korea and that such a trusteeship should be administered by the United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the Republic of China. This plan was later agreed to by Generalissimo Stalin in his conversations with Mr. Hopkins on 28 May 1945.

4. It remains to be determined, therefore, whether or not all of the four states concerned agree to such a proposal and whether such a four-power trusteeship should be independent of the United Nations Organization or part of it. The strategic position of Korea between China, the Soviet Union and Japan, and the instability of the Korean Government prior to its annexation by Japan made it the scene of rivalry between China and Japan and later between Japan and Russia. Unless prompt agreement is reached among the four major Allies on the form of trusteeship for Korea, rivalry for the control of Korea may again develop.

5. Korea is a territory to which the proposed International Trusteeship System, as provided for in the Charter of the United Nations, is applicable. It is a territory detached from an enemy state as a result of this war and one in which a progressive development toward independence should be promoted. Korea is not one of the United Nations.

6. There would be several advantages to the Koreans in placing Korea under the International Trusteeship System as a trust territory, no part of which is designated as strategic:

a. The Charter provided that the terms of the trusteeship for all areas not designated as strategic shall be approved by the General Assembly. Hence, any trusteeship agreement for Korea made by the powers concerned would be subject to the approval of all the United Nations, thereby increasing the responsibility of all the powers for carrying out the agreement.

b. The Charter further provides that the administering authority shall make an annual report to the General Assembly on the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust area. Consequently, the Korean people would have the benefit of the influence the General Assembly and the Trusteeship Council will be able to exert upon the administering authority.

c. The Charter also stipulates that the Trusteeship Council may accept petitions from any trust area, so that the Korean people would have adequate opportunity to express their criticisms of the administering authority.

d. Furthermore, the General Assembly and the Trusteeship Council may provide for periodic visits to the respective trust territories.

7. The principal advantage to the administering powers lies in achieving stability through joint action in Korea as an alternative to rivalry among the great powers in an area of special danger. Furthermore, the difficulties inherent in the establishment of an international supervisory authority for Korea independent of the Trusteeship System of the United Nations would be avoided, and the duplication that would result from the formation of international machinery charged with the responsibilities similar to those of an organ of the United Nations would be eliminated.

8. The administering authority in Korea should, in accord with Article 84 of the Charter, recruit police forces from the territory for local defense and the maintenance of law and order.

9. It is probable, however, that foreign military forces will be necessary in Korea, especially during the early period of trusteeship before sufficient local forces have been organized. The four administering powers should arrange for such forces.

10. The success of the temporary administration of Korea under the trusteeship would also depend on whether or not the terms of the trusteeship agreement were acceptable to the Koreans. Many of the possible objections of the Koreans to a trusteeship system could be met, and the pledge in the Cairo Declaration that Korea shall become free and independent in due course, could be implemented most effectively by the inclusion in the trusteeship agreement for Korea of provisions substantially as follows:

a. The independence of Korea is recognized subject to the condition that the exercise of the powers of independent government are suspended during the period of trusteeship.

b. The states directly concerned, parties to the agreement, pledge themselves actively to support in the Security Council and in the General Assembly the admission of Korea to full membership in the United Nations as soon as conditions indicate that Korea can accept the responsibilities of independence.

c. The primary purpose of the administering authority for Korea will be to make it possible for the Koreans to undertake the responsibilities of independence and for Korea to become a member of the United Nations at an early date. The Trustee Powers will make every effort to bring about as early as possible the necessary internal conditions in Korea and international arrangements assuring Korea’s security to justify the termination of the trusteeship administration and Korea’s admission to the United Nations.

d. To these ends the administering authority will:

(1) Utilize Korean personnel to the fullest possible extent;

(2) Provide necessary facilities to train the Koreans to assume the responsibilities of an independent state;

(3) Provide necessary facilities by which the Koreans can determine the form of government under which they will live and to which the administering authority can transfer its powers and responsibilities in such a way as to disturb least the security of the region. Such facilities might include the establishment of a Korean representative assembly and, when the appropriate time arrives, the formulation of a constitutional assembly for the formulation of a national constitution in accordance with the freely expressed will of the people.

e. Exercise such executive, legislative and judicial authority as is necessary for the efficient administration of Korea until a free and independent Korean government is established.

[Enclosure 3]

Appendix “C”

United States Policy with Respect to an International Trusteeship for Korea

1. The primary purpose of the administering authority for Korea should be to make it possible for the Koreans to accept the responsibilities of independence and for Korea ultimately to become a member of the United Nations. The independence of Korea should be recognized in the trusteeship agreement subject to the condition that the exercise of the powers of independent government will be suspended during the period of trusteeship. The administering authority should make every effort to bring about as early as possible the necessary internal conditions in Korea and international arrangements assuring Korea’s security, to justify the termination of the trusteeship administration and Korea’s admission as a responsible member of the United Nations.

2. Following the termination of Japanese sovereignty and of military government, Korea should be established, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations relating to an International Trusteeship System, as a trust territory, no part of this territory should be designated as a strategic area.

3. There would be several advantages to the Koreans in placing Korea under the International Trusteeship System as a trust territory, no part of which is designated as strategic:

a. The Charter provided that the terms of the trusteeship for all areas not designated as strategic shall be approved by the General Assembly. Hence, any trusteeship agreement for Korea made by the powers concerned would be subject to the approval of all the United Nations, thereby increasing the responsibility of all the powers for carrying out the agreement.

b. The Charter further provides that the administering authority shall make an annual report to the General Assembly on the political, economic, social and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust area. Consequently, the Korean people would have the benefit of the influence the General Assembly and the Trusteeship Council will be able to exert upon the administering authority.

c. The Charter also stipulates that the Trusteeship Council may accept petitions from any trust area, so that the Korean people would have adequate opportunity to express their criticisms of the administering authority.

d. Furthermore, the General Assembly and the Trusteeship Council may provide for periodic visits to the respective trust territories.

4. Military government in Korea should terminate as soon as practicable in accord with a joint agreement by the trustee powers, and should be superseded by the administering authority for Korea. The administering authority itself should be terminated, consistent with the trusteeship agreement, when Korea is capable of assuming the responsibilities of independence.

5. The administering authority for Korea should exercise such executive, legislative, and judicial powers as are necessary. It should make arrangements to maintain in Korea forces adequate for the maintenance of law, order and security.

6. The trusteeship agreement for Korea should include, in addition to the provisions necessary to implement the policies listed above, the following stipulations:

a. Korea shall be administered as a single political and economic unit by a central administering authority, which shall be responsible for the promulgation and implementation of political, economic and financial policy throughout the country.

b. Korean personnel to be used to the fullest possible extent in the administration of Korean affairs, and their responsibility to be progressively increased.

c. As far as possible, Koreans returning from outside Korea not to be appointed or retained in official positions by the administering authority if these persons are clearly unacceptable to the Korean people.

d. Adequate facilities to be provided to train the Koreans to assume the responsibilities of an independent state.

e. Adequate facilities to be provided by which the Koreans can determine the form of government under which they will live, these facilities to include a Korean representative assembly to advise the administering authority and, when the appropriate time arrives, a constitutional assembly for the formulation of a national constitution in accordance with the freely expressed wishes of the people.

f. Provisions to be made for the termination of the trusteeship and for the transfer to a Korean government of the rights and responsibilities of the administering authority.

[Enclosure 4]

Appendix “D”

Statement for the Press

“As indicated by the Cairo Declaration, it is the policy of the United States that Korea in due course shall become free and independent. In order to assist the Korean people in the development of a responsible democratic government that will enable Korea to assume its proper position as a member of the United Nations as quickly as possible, a trusteeship for Korea Should be established as soon as adequate agreement can be concluded. Furthermore, since the United States has subscribed to the principles of the United Nations Organization and has ratified the Charter, the Government of the United States believes that such trusteeship for Korea should be brought within the framework of the United Nations Organization. The United States has invited China, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the United Kingdom to enter into a joint agreement for such trusteeship.”⁸

6. Agreed to by the Joint Chiefs of Staff; approved by the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee on October 24.
7. Not printed.
8. A copy of SWNCC 101/4 was transmitted to the Acting Political Adviser in Japan as an enclosure to instruction 9, November 1, with the statement: “For the time being the Department does not expect to issue a statement to the press such as that quoted in Appendix D.” (740.00119 Control (Korea)/10–2445)