795.00/4–951
Draft of a Proposed Communication by President Truman to the United Nations Secretary–General (Lie)1
Mr. Secretary General: In accordance with paragraph six of the Security Council Resolution of July 7, 1950, I submit the following summary report on the situation in Korea, in my capacity as Chief Executive of the Government requested by the United Nations to act as the Unified Command for United Nations operations in Korea.
Since June 27, 1950 the forces of the United Nations have been engaged in repelling the aggression committed in Korea by the military forces of North Korea and, subsequently, by those of Communist China. The attacking forces have again been driven back, with heavy losses, to the general area from which the unlawful attack was first launched last June.
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 resulting from the aggression in Korea. The United States as the Unified Command is, therefore, prepared to enter into arrangements to conclude the fighting and to insure against its resumption. Such arrangements should open the way for a prompt and general settlement for Korea, including the phased withdrawal of non-Korean forces from the peninsula. The ending of the fighting in Korea would greatly reduce international tension in the Far East and would open the way for a prompt settlement of the Korean problem itself and for the consideration of other Far Eastern questions by the process of peaceful settlement envisaged in the charter of the United Nations.
The United Nations has affirmed that the legitimate rights and interests of Korea’s neighbors should be respected. 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 an honorable settlement in Korea.
Information available to the Unified Command indicates continued preparations by forces opposing the United Nations for a new and major offensive in the near future. Until satisfactory arrangements for ending the fighting have been reached, there is no alternative but for United Nations military action against those forces to be continued. The Unified Command has sought in every possible way to give effect [Page 321] to the policy of the United Nations that the fighting in Korea be limited to that country. In following this policy, however, the Unified Command will carry out its elementary responsibility to safeguard the security of United Nations forces from major attack from other quarters.
The Unified Command has been deeply impressed by the gallantry and competence of forces made available to it by the Members of the United Nations and is encouraged with indications that these forces are to be augmented further.
The Unified Command also pays tribute to the determination of the Korean people to establish and maintain their independence. The Korean people are entitled to be relieved of the tragedy which has been forced upon them and, in accordance with long-established United Nations policy, to establish a unified, independent, democratic sovereign state. The Unified Command invites the continued attention of the Members of the United Nations to the ravages of war and to the urgent need for the assistance which the United Nations is ready to give and for which it has established necessary machinery.
The Unified Command will continue to be guided by the principles set forth in the resolutions of the United Nations which prescribe the policy governing the exercise of its responsibilities for the conduct of military operations on behalf of the United Nations in Korea.
- Concerning U.S. consideration of such a communication, see supra. This draft was not transmitted to any of the other U.N. member states for consideration, nor was a message ultimately sent from President Truman to Secretary-General Lie.↩