Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, Korea, Volume XV, Part 2

795.00/1–1254: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Deputy Representative for the Korean Political Conference (Young)¹

top secret
niact

Washington, January 12, 1954—1:49 p.m.

192. Following are further instructions promised Deptel 191² for use at meeting of liaison secretaries.

1. US Representatives should not accept any Communist proposal that liaison secretaries simply agree to date for resuming discussions as proposed in Communist letter to Young January 11—that is, on basis of Chinese Communist and North Korean statements which we gather propose resumption on basis of Communist November 30 proposal.³ It must be clearly understood that resumption is without prejudice to right of either side to make any proposal it wishes regarding arrangements for political conference, and that no one proposal, past or future, can have any preferential status unless both sides fully agree.

2. As regards retraction or expunging of Communist charges of US “perfidy”, in preliminary conversations we must be careful, on the one hand, not to make demands in such form as to give Communists further opportunity to take intransigent position and to denounce us, and on the other hand not to resume talks on basis which will give the rest of the world, the ROK’s and American public opinion a platform from which to denounce us because we are in effect “suing” for the resumption of preliminary talks without any retraction or expunging of charges by Communists.

We, therefore, suggest that these talks be handled in executive session and on an exploratory basis so that we will have complete opportunity to consider appropriate basis for the resumption of talks. You should inform ROK but you should be careful about releasing too much detail so we are not faced with denunciatory statements prior time actual resumption formula is agreed upon.

3. You should seek agreement on following formula: physical expunging last three statements on December 12 and word “perfidious”, page 28 of the December 12 meeting, and physical expunging Dean’s statement re agents on October 28, page C7, to which they took formal exception on October 29.⁴

4. In order to forestall possibility that talks at secretarial level might themselves become stalled or have to be called off, you should if at all possible work out appropriate formula for resumption through intervention of Indians prior to the secretaries’ meeting. We have received no indication Communist reaction to Indian soundings via Peiping, and you should proceed at once without regard to it.

5. When satisfactory agreement reached on expunging or other satisfactory method of correcting record, you may propose date shortly after January 22 for resumption Panmunjom talks.

6. If conditions propitious, Dean plans leave Washington with Stevens January 15 to arrive Seoul before January 22.

Dulles

1. This telegram was drafted by Popper and Dean and cleared with Drumright and Murphy. It was repeated to Seoul as 587, Tokyo as 1615 with instructions to pass to CINCUNC, and New Delhi as 810.
2. In this telegram, Young was given preliminary instructions to agree to the Communist side’s suggestion for a liaison secretaries meeting but, of course, to avoid accepting any specific date until the conditions for resumption were clear. (795.00/1–1154)
3. The proposal included a shift of the site of the conference from Panmunjom to New Delhi, inclusion of the Soviet Union as a neutral, and general participatipn of neutral nations in the conference without restrictions, except as to voting.
4. Regarding the Dec. 12 meeting, see telegram 168, p. 1665. Summary reports of the Oct. 28 and 29 sessions at Panmunjom were transmitted in telegrams 9 and 13 from Munsan-ni, Oct. 28 and 29, respectively, neither printed. (795.00/10–2853 and 795.00/10–2953)