Lot 55D128: Black Book, Tab 3: Telegram
The Commander in Chief, Far East (Ridgway) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff
ZX–42399. Reds want immediate resumption of talks. (Peiping radio, English, 0700, 10 Oct, radio press)
General Kim Il Sung, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, and General Peng Teh-Huai, Commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteers, on October 9 addressed a reply to Ridgway’s answer of October 8. The full text follows:
M. B. Ridgway, Commander in Chief of the United Nations forces:
We received your message of October 8 on the 9th. You again try in your message to shift the responsibility onto our side for dragging out the armistice negotiations. We consider this statement of yours as completely invalid.
In our previous messages to you we have very clearly given the [Page 1010] facts and the reasons which showed that the responsibility for drawing out the armistice negotiations rests entirely with your side and which your side cannot in any way deny. Nor in this message of yours are you able to bring forward any new reasons. Thus, it is evident that solid facts cannot be discarded by your arbitrary statement and the responsibilities which devolve on your side cannot in any way be thrown off.
In the past your side used the agreement on the neutrality of the armistice conference site merely to restrict our side while your side deliberately violated it and then denied on the pretext that you had any responsibility regarding the area. We had, therefore, proposed that the scope of the armistice conference neutral zone be extended to a rectangular area including Kaesong and Munsan with both sides taking responsibility and that the conference site be removed to Panmunjom with both sides equally responsible for safeguarding its security.
Since your message agrees to the Panmunjom area as the conference site and expresses your willingness to carry out equal and responsible control by both sides the question of extending the neutral zone between Kaesong and Munsan may be resolved for settlement at the conference of the delegations of both sides.
Therefore, the two delegations should immediately resume their armistice negotiations in Panmunjom and as proposed in the previous message at their first meeting draw up the principles extending the scope of the neutral zone and safeguarding the security of the conference site and the setting up of appropriate machinery to solve the various conference questions concerned.
We have instructed our liaison officers to meet your liaison officers at 10 A. M. on October 10 to discuss the matter concerning the resumption of the conference by the delegations of both sides.
Signed: Kim Il Sung, Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army,
Peng Teh-Huai, Commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteers.