740.00119 Control (Korea)/10–1747: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Embassy in the Soviet Union
us urgent
1855. Please deliver following letter to FonOff immediately and inform Dept of time of delivery:
“Dear Mr. Molotov: In your letter of October 9, 1947, you state that the position taken by the United States Delegation in the Joint Soviet-American Commission at Seoul has delayed a decision on the Korean question and you refer to the proposal made by the Soviet Delegation in Seoul on September 26, 1947, for the immediate simultaneous withdrawal of United States-Soviet occupation forces to which you state no reply has been received.
The Secretary of State announced on September 17 that the problem of setting up an independent Government for a unified Korea would be presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations and on September 23 the General Assembly voted to place this question on its agenda. In the opinion of the United States Government the question of withdrawal of occupation forces from Korea must be considered an integral part of the solution of that problem.
The United States Delegation to the General Assembly meeting in New York City has now had circulated to the various delegations for their consideration a proposed resolution which is designed to bring about the early establishment of an independent Korean Government representative of the will of the Korean people, and the consequent speedy withdrawal of all occupation forces. In submitting this proposal to the Secretary General,45 specific attention was called to the Soviet proposal for the simultaneous withdrawal of troops with the statement of the United States’ hope that having both proposals before [Page 837] it the General Assembly would be able to recommend a solution of the problem. A copy of the United States proposals was delivered to the Soviet Delegation in New York prior to its being communicated to the Secretary General of the United Nations for transmission to the other delegations.
In view of the continued inability of the Soviet and United States Delegations in the Joint Commission to agree on how to proceed with their work and the refusal of the Soviet Government to participate in discussions on this problem with the other Governments adhering to the Moscow Agreement on Korea, the United States Government considers it is obligated to seek the assistance of the United Nations in order that, as the Secretary of State said on September 17, ‘the inability of two powers to reach agreement’ should not further delay the early establishment of an independent, united Korea.
Copies of this letter have been furnished to the Governments of the United Kingdom and China.
Accept, Sir, … etc. Signed Lovett”
Text today’s note to SYGUN and accompanying UN resolution on Korea being transmitted by airgram.46 Sent Moscow, repeated Nanking, London and Seoul.47