Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Korea and China, Volume VII, Part 1

795.00/3–2151

Memorandum by the Secretary of Defense (Marshall) to the Secretary of State

secret

Washington, March 21, 1951.

Dear Acheson: I am returning in a very informal manner, in order to save time, the suggestions of the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding a proposed presidential statement on Korea and my own suggestions.¹

Those of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are indicated on Page 2 in blue ink.² My suggestions are indicated in red ink—in the second line by striking out the word “the” and by the letter “X” opposite certain paragraphs which I think might well be omitted in order to make the statement shorter and more incisive. However, that is a mere suggestion of mine.³

G. C. Marshall

[Annex]

Draft Text of a Proposed Presidential Statement on Korea⁴

secret

[Washington, March 21, 1951.]

I make the following statement as Chief Executive of the Government requested by the United Nations to exercise the Unified Command in Korea, and after full consultation with United Nations Governments contributing combat forces in support of the United Nations in Korea.

United Nations forces in Korea are engaged in repelling the aggression committed first on June 25, 1950, by North Korean forces against the Republic of Korea and subsequently by Chinese Communist forces against the United Nations.

The aggressors have been driven back with heavy losses to the general vicinity from which the unlawful attack was first launched last June.

There remains the problem of restoring international peace and security in the area in accordance with the terms of the Security Council resolution of June 27, 1950. The spirit and principles of the United Nations Charter require that every effort be made to prevent the spread of hostilities and to avoid the prolongation of the misery and the loss of life for which the aggressors are responsible.

There is a basis for restoring peace and security in the area which should be acceptable to all unless the aggressors are determined to continue their aggression at whatever cost.

The Unified Command is prepared to enter into arrangements which would assure the ending of the aggression, would conclude the fighting and ensure against its resumption. Such arrangements would open the way for a broader settlement for Korea, including the withdrawal of foreign forces from Korea.

The United Nations has declared the policy of the world community that the people of Korea be permitted to establish a unified, independent and democratic state. The latest expression of this international policy is contained in the resolution of the General Assembly of October 7, 1950.

The Korean people are entitled to peace. They are entitled to determine their political and other institutions by their own choice and in response to their own needs.

The Korean people are entitled to the assistance of the world community in repairing the ravages of war—assistance which the United Nations is ready to give and for which it has established the necessary machinery. Its member nations have already made generous offers of help. What is needed is peace, in which the United Nations can use its resources in the creative tasks of reconstruction.⁵

It is regrettable that those who are opposing the United Nations in Korea have made so little response to the many opportunities which have been and continue to be afforded for a settlement in Korea.

A prompt settlement of the Korean problem would greatly reduce international tension in the Far East and would open the way for the consideration of other problems in that area by the processes of peaceful settlement envisaged in the Charter of the United Nations.

Until satisfactory arrangements for ending the aggression and for concluding the fighting have been reached, United Nations military action against the aggressor must be continued.⁶

1. The text of the draft statement is printed as an annex to this memorandum, below, with the suggestions of Secretary Marshall and the Joint Chiefs of Staff indicated in subsequent footnotes.
2. See footnotes 5 and 6, below.
3. None of Secretary Marshall’s suggestions were incorporated in the proposed statement. The paragraphs marked by him with an “x” for possible omission were the third, fifth, and tenth.
4. The source text is that which was submitted on March 21 to the representatives of countries participating in the U.N. effort in Korea, with the request for comments by Friday, March 23, or the weekend at the latest; see the memorandum by Mr. Allen, p. 256.

5. The Joint Chiefs of Staff suggested, without success, that this paragraph be amended to read:

   “The Korean people are entitled to the assistance of the world community in repairing the ravages of war—assistance which the world should be ready to give. The United Nations has established the necessary machinery to assist in this essential task. Its member nations have already made generous offers of help. What is needed is peace.”

6. The text of this paragraph represented acceptance by the Department of State of a JCS proposed change, in that the original State Department draft had read:

   “In the absence of satisfactory arrangements for ending the aggression and for concluding the fighting, United Nations military action against the aggressors must be continued.”