501.BB Korea/8–1648
The Canadian Under Secretary of State for External Affairs (Pearson) to the American Counselor of Embassy (Harrington)1
Dear Mr. Harrington: I should like to refer to your letters of July 13 and 19 regarding the question of “recognition of the Korean Government” and to communicate to you the views of the Canadian Government on this subject.
2. The Canadian Government recognizes the strength of the desire of the people in South Korea, as represented by the recently elected Assembly, to proceed without delay with the formation of a government. It does not consider that the formation of such a government would he contrary to the intention of the United Nations General Assembly Resolutions of November 14, 1947, interpreted in the light of developments which have taken place since that date. It appreciates the reasons which have prompted the decision of the United States Government to enter into conversations with the leaders of the elected Korean representatives when requested by them to do so regarding the transfer of governmental functions to the new government being formed. While responsibility for determining the extent and timetable of this transfer of authority must rest with the United States Government and the Korean Government which will be assuming power at Seoul, it considers that the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea should be available for consultation during this process in accordance with the provisions of the General Assembly Resolutions.
3. As regards recognition of the new Government, the Canadian Government proposes to apply the general principles of international law. It cannot see its way clear to granting recognition until it is satisfied that the new Government is possessed of full governmental powers.
4. The Canadian Government believes that it would be unwise for the new Government to claim to be “the National Government of Korea”. Such a claim, in the opinion of the Canadian Government, would have no real basis in fact. The Assembly now meeting in Seoul has received a mandate only from the people of South Korea, and North Korea is under Soviet control. The new Government will acquire governmental powers only in South Korea as these are handed over to it by the United States Military Government. By claiming to be the rightful Government of North Korea the new Government [Page 1275] would probably make more difficult its relations with the Soviet occupation authorities in North Korea, or any provisional North Korean regime they may sponsor, in any negotiations over North-South communications and commerce (e.g. hydro-electric power supply) and possible future moves toward unification of the country. As they have done in Dairen, the Russians may argue that they are in legitimate occupation of North Korea until they sign a peace treaty with Japan. Without sacrificing the prestige it enjoys from United Nations approval, it would appear wiser for the Koreans to maintain a degree of flexibility in their claims regarding the representative character of the Government they are establishing. Their claims rest on moral rather than legal or factual grounds.
5. In making these observations concerning the situation in Korea, the Canadian Government does not wish to convey the impression that it is dissatisfied with the elections held in South Korea on May 10 or the steps now being taken toward the formation of a Government by the Assembly now sitting in Seoul. It considers it desirable that the Assembly and Government properly chosen in accordance with the terms of the Resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, although presently limited to South Korea, should receive the approval of member governments of the United Nations which voted for the Resolutions of November 14, 1947. It is the hope of the Canadian Government that the steps so well taken in South Korea toward the formation of a representative government will in due course be taken similarly in North Korea so that eventually a united and independent Korean Government may be formed.
6. The Canadian Government would be glad to have in advance some indication of the views of the United States Government regarding the further disposition of the Korean question at the forthcoming session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
Yours sincerely,
- Copy transmitted to the Department in despatch 570, August 16, from Ottawa, not printed; received August 18. A copy was forwarded by the Department in its 36, September 7, to Seoul.↩