Office of the Historian

212. Letter From the Director of the Office of Northeast Asian Affairs (Parsons) to the Ambassador to Korea (Dowling)0

Washington, February 3, 1958.

Dear Red: I wanted to bring to your attention our concern over statements1 by our military in Korea concerning the introduction of or equipping of U.S. forces with atomic capable weapons. It is our feeling that any public reference to this subject should be very carefully phrased so as to avoid misinterpretation on the part of the Koreans that such weapons will also be furnished to ROK forces or subsequent disillusion when this is not done.

Although we recognize that it is not possible to prevent President Rhee or other Koreans from exploiting statements by U.S. officials for their own purposes, this is an added reason why statements and remarks should be carefully worded. I hope that it will be possible for you to discuss with General Decker the importance we attach to this matter.

With warm personal regards,

Sincerely yours,

Howard L. Parsons2
  1. Source: Department of State, NA Files: Lot 60 D 680, Military Bases and New Type Weapons. Secret; Official–Informal. Drafted on January 31 by Barbis.↩
  2. Not further identified.↩
  3. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩