895.20 Mission/4–1149
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth)
| Participants: | Dr. John M. Chang, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea |
| Dr. Chough Pyung Ok, Personal Representative of the President of the Republic of Korea | |
| Mr. W. Walton Butterworth, Director for Far Eastern Affairs | |
| Mr. Niles W. Bond, Assistant Chief, Division of Northeast Asian Affairs |
Dr. Chough, accompanied by the Korean Ambassador, called on me today at his request to discuss the question of military assistance for Korea.
After the customary exchange of pleasantries Dr. Chough stated that, as the Department had already been informed, he had been charged by President Rhee with the mission of discussing and negotiating with the U.S. Government with respect to the obtainment from the U.S. of certain further military assistance regarded as essential to the defense and security of his country. He reviewed the peculiar circumstances [Page 985] which in the eyes of his Government made such assistance indispensable, remarking that his Government had to be prepared for the day when U.S. troops would be withdrawn. He added that his Government considered that military and economic aid were inseparable parts of the same whole, and that without the one the other would be unavailing.
I assured Dr. Chough that we were well aware of and actively concerned with this problem and that the requirements of his Government for military assistance beyond that which had already been turned over had been effectively presented by Ambassador Muccio during his recent period of consultation in Washington. I went on to point out, however, that current demands upon the U.S. for military assistance were global in scope and that the requirements of every friendly country had to be examined in the light of the requirements of all, and in the light of the capacity of the U.S. to meet such requirements. I said that, while this would undoubtedly result in no one country receiving as much as it thought it should have, it should ensure a distribution of available aid according to priority of need. I added that the critical nature of Korea’s requirements were fully recognized by my Government and that, although no specific assurances could be given to any government pending approval of the program as a whole and appropriation of the necessary funds by the Congress, he could be assured that his country’s needs were in no way being overlooked or neglected. Dr. Chough appeared satisfied with these assurances.
Referring to our previous conversation of January 5, Dr. Chough stated that he had passed on to President Rhee and the Cabinet upon his return to Korea the views which I had expressed concerning the necessity of preventing the Korean Government, in its struggle against Communism, from losing the support of the people by becoming static and anti-progressive. He expressed the opinion that those views had had a salutary effect in Seoul and cited the land reform program currently under consideration as an example of the determination of his Government to avoid the pitfalls which I had mentioned.
Ambassador Chang remarked that he and Dr. Chough had had several conversations, on social occasions and otherwise, with Members of Congress, and asked whether I saw any objection thereto. I replied that we had no objection whatsoever but pointed out that it was the Executive Branch of the Government which was responsible for the formulation of policy and that any questions which might arise with respect to U.S. policy in Korea could therefore best be discussed with the Department.