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Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk)
Addendum to Notes on Wake Conference October 141
Prior to the meeting between the President and General MacArthur,2 Ambassador Muccio talked briefly with a group of us and to me privately, about the situation in Korea. The following points supplement the account of the general meeting.
[Page 947]1. Functioning of the Embassy
Ambassador Muccio is very anxious to get his essential requirements for restoring the Embassy to full operation as quickly as possible. He laid most emphasis upon personnel and furniture. He said the Army was being very helpful, but that he hoped the State Department could give most urgent attention to his recent telegrams on the subject.
2. Chief of ECA Mission
Ambassador Muccio feels very strongly that Mr. Earl Johnson is not a suitable Chief of ECA Mission3 and that his appointment would create great difficulties in Korea. He also said that Johnson’s idea of having four ECA staff sections in Korea run by Johnson in Washington was absurd.
3. Visit to Washington
I told Ambassador Muccio that we were anxious for him to come back to Washington for a visit not later than early November and suggested the possibility that he might come on back with us. He thought that it would be desirable for him to have a week or ten days in Seoul before coming to Washington, and it was left that we would let him know what our wishes are.
4. Colonel Katzin
Both General MacArthur and Ambassador Muccio spoke most highly of the competence and general attitude of Colonel Katzin, the Personal Representative of Secretary General Trygve Lie.
5. Elections in Korea
Ambassador Muccio obviously felt strongly about not undercutting the Government of the Republic of Korea and treating it “on a par with North Korean authorities”. I explained to him some of the problems in the United Nations and the need to get patience and understanding both on the part of the United Nations and Syngman Rhee if such questions are to be handled without unnecessary friction. He told me of his repeated efforts to keep Rhee moving in the right direction, that he had made repeated and strong representations to him. He said that he had thought a great deal about an alternative to Rhee but had thus far not been able to think of anyone who could do the job. He said the new military leadership was about the only possible source for a successor.
6. Rice
Ambassador Muccio said that the rice crop would be excellent, that little damage had been done to the crop areas of the countryside, and [Page 948] that this would be the third year in which Korea had had a good rice crop. He said he thought this would make a considerable difference politically to most of the farmers, that much of the stability of the population during the fighting was based on the fact that they were having three good years of crops.
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- President Truman’s party set out from Hawaii shortly after midnight on October 14 (Saturday) for the Wake Island conference, which was held early on Sunday, October 15, local time; see infra. Presumably, this memorandum was drawn up following the conference and after the departure of President Truman’s party from Wake Island for Hawaii, which involved returning across the international date line. This meant a return to Saturday, October 14, for the participants, accounting for the date on Mr. Rusk’s memorandum. See Truman, Years of Trial and Hope, pp. 364, 367.↩
- Before the formal Wake Island conference (see infra), President Truman and General MacArthur met alone. For accounts of this private meeting, see Whitney, MacArthur, p. 387 and Truman, Years of Trial and Hope, pp. 364–365.↩
- Presumably, the reference is to Edgar A. J. Johnson, Director of the Korea Program at ECA headquarters in Washington.↩