611.95B/8–1453
Memorandum by the Secretary of State to the Under Secretary of State (Smith) 1
I think it important that during the United Nations Assembly2 we keep in mind the importance of maintaining good relations with the Republic of Korea. The visit of Ambassador Lodge, Assistant Secretary Robertson and myself to Korea ended with a very good relationship. However, it cannot be maintained if the Koreans now think that we [Page 1496] have forgotten about them and work only with the British, French, Indians, etc.
Because the ROK felt this in relation to the armistice we had a narrow escape from disaster. We had to use up all the bargaining power we possessed to get President Rhee to go along with the armistice. Now we face the problem of his going along with the political conference. This will require first, the maintenance of good working relations in regard to the conference, and, secondly, ultimate decisions which will be acceptable to, even if not liked by, President Rhee.
There cannot be a successful political conference in relation to Korea which is boycotted by the ROK. On the other hand, the ROK in my opinion will not go into a “roundtable conference” dominated by the “great powers” such as UK, France, USSR, Communist China, India and U.S. The ROK feel that in the past they have always been sacrificed to such great power interests and I do not believe that they could or should be expected to go into a political conference of this type. Furthermore, I believe that those who propose this type of conference should be compelled to face up to what it means in terms of ROK participation. The U.S. cannot be expected in this matter to “sell” the conference to Rhee because it is not the type of conference which the U.S. itself believes in.