396.1 GE/6–1154: Telegram
The United States Delegation to the Department of State
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Secto 424. Repeated information priority Seoul 121, Tokyo 126. Tokyo pass CINCUNC. Reference Secto 418.1 Following is draft declaration by 16 which we will begin discussing tomorrow with UK and possibly some other key delegations with view introducing in meeting 16 Monday.2 Would appreciate Department’s comments. Department will, of course, appreciate that delegation will require some negotiating flexibility on final text in order quickly obtain agreement all 16.
Draft declaration by the 16.
“Pursuant to the resolution of August 28, 1953, of the United Nations General Assembly, and the Berlin communiqué of February 18, 1954, we, the 16 nations who contributed military forces to the United Nations Command in Korea, have been participating in the Geneva Conference for the purpose of establishing a united and independent Korea by peaceful means.
We have made a number of proposals and suggestions in accord with the past efforts of the United Nations to bring about the unification, independence and freedom of Korea; and within the framework of the following two principles which we believe to be fundamental:
- 1.
- The United Nations, under its Charter, is fully and rightfully empowered to take collective action to repel aggression, to restore peace and security, and to contribute its good offices to seeking a peaceful adjustment in Korea.
- 2.
- There should be established a united and independent Korea through the holding of genuinely free elections under the supervision of an appropriate United Nations body, for representatives in the National Assembly, in which representation shall be in direct proportion to the indigenous population in Korea.
We have earnestly and patiently searched for a basis of agreement which would enable us to proceed with Korean unification in accordance with these fundamental principles. We have failed.
The Communist delegations have rejected our every effort. The principal issues between us, therefore, are clear. We accept and assert the authority of the United Nations. The Communists repudiate and reject the role of the United Nations in Korea and have labelled the UN itself the tool of aggression. We desire genuinely free elections. The Communists, while asserting a corresponding desire, insist upon procedures which would make free elections, as we understand them, completely impossible. It is only too apparent that the Communist states will not accept impartial supervision of free elections. Plainly, they have shown their intention to maintain Communist control over North Korea. They have persisted in the same attitudes which have frustrated United Nations’ efforts to unify Korea since 1947.
However attractive it might be to state that some agreement in principle had been reached at this point, we believe that in the long run it will be better if we squarely face the facts of our disagreement and acknowledge them than to delude ourselves with false hopes and lead the people of the world to believe that there is agreement when there is no real agreement.
In the circumstances, we have been compelled reluctantly and regretfully to conclude that, so long as the Communist delegations reject the two fundamental principles which we consider indispensable, further consideration and examination of the Korean question by the conference would serve no useful purpose. We reaffirm our continued support for the objectives of the United Nations on the establishment of a united and independent Korea.”