740.00119 Control (Korea)/5–1349
Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Far Eastern Affairs (Butterworth) to the Director of Plans and Operations, Department of the Army (Maddocks)
I have reference to the letter of May 4, from the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of State, in which the agreement of this Department was requested to the immediate downgrading of the security classification of U.S. troop withdrawal from Korea, and to the Secretary of State’s letter of May 10 in acknowledgement thereof, under cover of which there was transmitted a copy of the Department’s telegram No. 330 of May 9 to Ambassador Muccio at Seoul.
The Department of State is on this date in receipt of a telegram from Ambassador Muccio, a copy of which is attached,1 which is regarded as constituting his concurrence in the requested downgrading, to which the Department accordingly interposes no further objection. It is the Department’s understanding that this downgrading will for the present apply neither to the agreed date for the completion of withdrawal nor to the fact that such a firm date has been established.
[Page 1023]It will be noted from the attached telegram that Ambassador Muccio requests that this downgrading be accompanied by no public announcement.
- Reference is to telegram 533, May 13, from Seoul, not printed. Ambassador Muccio indicated therein that he had intended to convey his concurrence to clown-grading the classification of the withdrawal in his telegram 527, May 11 (501.BB Korea/5–1349).↩