Office of the Historian

795.66/9–2850: Telegram

The Commander in Chief, Far East (MacArthur) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff

top secret
operational immediate
Tokyo, September 28, 1950—12:55 a. m.
[No receipt time.]

C–64730. Reurmsg JCS 92762.1 I am in full concurrence with your suggestion. The broadcast will be initiated from Tokyo and Seoul2 Sunday October 1st at 1200 hours Tokyo time. I have made minor modifications in the context of the proposed broadcast so that it will read as follows: “To the Commander in Chief, North Korean Forces: The early and total defeat and complete destruction of your armed forces and war making potential is now inevitable. In order that the decisions of the United Nations may be carried out with a minimum of further loss of life and destruction of property, I, as the United Nations Commander in Chief, call upon you and the forces under your command, in whatever part of Korea situated, forthwith to lay down your arms and cease hostilities under such military supervision as I may direct—and I call upon you at once to liberate all United Nations prisoners of war and civilian internees under your control and to make adequate provision for their protection, care, maintenance and immediate transportation to such places as I indicate. North Korean Forces, including prisoners of war in the hands of the United Nations Command, will continue to be given the care dictated by civilized custom and practice and permitted to return to their homes as soon as practicable. I shall anticipate your early decision [Page 797] upon this opportunity to avoid the further useless shedding of blood and destruction of property. Signed Douglas MacArthur.”3

  1. See telegram 614, September 26, from New York, and footnote 1 thereto, p. 785.↩
  2. North Korean resistance to United Nations forces in Seoul ended on September 28; see Appleman, South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu, pp. 534–536.↩
  3. The above text was broadcast as scheduled at noon Tokyo time on October 1 (10 p. m., September 30, EST); concerning President Truman’s premature disclosure of the broadcast at his news conference on September 28, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, 1950, p. 659.↩