Office of the Historian

501.BB Korea/8–1048: Circular telegram

The Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic Officers 1

confidential
priority
Washington, August 10, 1948—7 a. m.

Ref Depcirtel July 10, 1 a. m., please advise FonOff that Dept plans release fol statement concerning new Korean Govt at 1800 hours Aug 12 (Washington time):

[For text of statement, see Department of State Bulletin, August 22, 1948, page 242.]

[Page 1270]

You may point out to FonOff that foregoing language reflects effort on part of US Govt to meet objections of certain UNTCOK govts to phraseology suggested para 6 of ref tel. You may state further that Dept feels that beneficial effects of this statement on Korean situation would be enhanced by issuance of analogous statements by other interested govts.

This statement being communicated in advance to Chairman UNTCOK as well as to interested govts.2

Marshall
  1. At Damascus, Manila, Ottawa, Paris, and San Salvador.↩
  2. As 283, August 10, 6 p. m., to Seoul; 1154 to Nanking; 182, 7 p. m., to Canberra; 3166 to London, and 491 to New Delhi. Telegram 653, August 12, from Seoul, reported General Hodge’s letter to UNTCOK transmitting the statement, to be released at Seoul on August 13, 9 a. m. (local time). Letters of thanks from President Rhee to President Truman and from Prime Minister Lee and Foreign Minister Chang to the Secretary of State were quoted in telegrams 659 and 660, August 13, from Seoul, neither printed (895.01/8–1348), while replies were quoted in telegram 3, August 26, 6 p. m., not printed. See Department of State Bulletin, September 5, 1948, p. 300.↩