231. Letter From President Eisenhower to President Rhee 1
Dear Mr. President: You have written me two letters on June 19, 1957, and June 24, 1957, counseling us to restore the military balance which Communist violations of the Armistice Agreement had upset and thanking us for our recent decision to redress that balance by the introduction of more modern weapons.
I thank you for sending both these letters. I share your confidence that our decision is the right one. You can rest assured, Mr. President, that the security of the Republic of Korea is of deep concern to the United States, as it is to yourself.
It has become imperative for our own budget, Mr. President, that the costs of maintaining the forces of the Republic of Korea at their present combat power be reduced. The modernization of United States forces and the addition of improved equipment for your own, [Page 469] buttressed by the retaliatory power of this country, the Mutual Defense Treaty between our two countries and the Joint Policy Declaration signed by sixteen nations on July 27, 1953, should more than compensate for your reductions. I know that you will welcome the increasing effectiveness of our aid program and the expansion to your own economy and over-all strength which will be consequent on these military reductions.
These considerations, Mr. President, prompted my decision to instruct Ambassador Dowling and General Lemnitzer to lay before you a plan which jointly includes reduction in your armed forces and the improved equipment of the remainder. This plan, in all its aspects, has my wholehearted personal support and must, in my judgment, be accomplished soon for the attainment of our commonly-held objectives.2
The unification of your country of which you spoke remains an important objective of the United States; the plan we have presented will in no way adversely affect its attainment. We shall lose no feasible opportunity to bring about the peaceful unification of a democratic and independent Korea.
With my sincerest personal good wishes,
- Source: Eisenhower Library, Whitman File, International File. Confidential; Priority; Presidential Handling. Transmitted in telegram 67 to Seoul, July 20, which is the source text. Telegram 67 was drafted by R.L. Burns of S/S and cleared in the White House by Goodpaster. The first paragraph of telegram 67 notes that the letter is a reply to Rhee’s letters of June 19 and 24; see Document 227 and footnote 2 thereto.↩
- In telegram 73 to Seoul, July 22, a joint State–Defense message, the Embassy was instructed to emphasize, when delivering the Eisenhower letter to Rhee, that the question of the reduction of Korean forces was not negotiable insofar as U.S. support was concerned. The Embassy responded, in telegram 73 from Seoul, July 24, that the instructions had arrived after the delivery of the President’s letter. The Embassy added that the Minister of Defense had urged that U.S. officials refrain from discussing the question of force reduction with President Rhee until the completion of a study of the matter being undertaken by the South Korean Government. (Department of State, Central Files, 795.00/6–2157 and 795.00/7–2457, respectively)↩
- Telegram 67 bears this typed signature.↩