Foreign Relations of the United States, 1950, Korea, Volume VII

Department of Defense Files

The Deputy Secretary of Defense (Lovett) to the President ¹

top secret

Washington, 7 October 1950.

Dear Mr. President: There is forwarded herewith, for your approval, a draft directive to General MacArthur regarding possible Chinese military intervention in Korea.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff have advised the Secretary of Defense that neither NSC 81/1, on United States courses of action in Korea, nor the implementing directive based thereon, which you approved on 27 September 1950, specifically provide for the action General MacArthur should take if the Chinese Communists intervene, without prior announcement, in Korea. The Joint Chiefs of Staff believe that such intervention is possible in the light of conditions obtaining presently in Korea, and that, therefore, General MacArthur should receive appropriate instructions for such a contingency.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff recommend that they be authorized to forward the attached directive to General MacArthur, subject to your approval, in accordance with NSC 73/4, “The Position and Actions of the United States with Respect to Possible Further Soviet Moves in the Light of the Korean Situation.”²

The Secretaries of State and Defense concur in this attached directive, and recommend your approval.³

With great respect,

Faithfully yours,

Robert A. Lovett

1. The source text bears the manuscript notation: “Approved 10/8/50 Harry S. Truman”.
2. Text and related documentation are scheduled for publication in volume i.
3. The attachment also bears the notation given in footnote 1 above. The directive was transmitted to General MacArthur in JCS telegram 93709, October 9, p. 915.