740.00119 P.W./2–347
The Secretary of State to the Political Adviser in Korea ( Langdon )
The Secretary of State encloses for reply, a letter from Mr. Soon Ju Chey28 concerning the treatment of former Japanese industrial facilities in Korea under the reparations program.
The Secretary of State transmits herewith the following information for use in replying to Mr. Chey’s letter:
The negotiations for a settlement of Japanese reparations issues will be carried out on a governmental level by the countries represented on the Far Eastern Commission. As part of its responsibility for Southern Korea, the United States Government is prepared, as it has previously announced, to use a portion of such allocation of Japanese industrial assets as may be made to it through inter-Allied agreement, to secure industrial equipment from Japan for installation in Southern Korea. In addition, it is the United States position that all industrial facilities in Korea which were formerly owned by the Japanese shall be excluded from the Japanese reparations settlement and shall remain the property of the Korean people.
The United States Government will adopt and will endeavor to obtain agreement by the other nations participating in the Far Eastern Commission to any recommendations contained in the report of Ambassador Pauley29 which will contribute to the well being of the Korean people.
- Not printed.↩
- Edwin W. Pauley, Personal Representative of President Truman on Reparations, with rank of Ambassador; for text of report, see Department of State. Far Eastern Series No. 25: Report on Japanese Reparations to the President of the United States, November 1945 to April 1946 (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1948). The report was submitted to President Truman on November 12, 1946, with a letter dated April 1, 1946.↩