Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Japan; Korea, Volume XVIII

218. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Korea⁰

Washington, March 4, 1958, 7:11 p.m.

581. Deptel 578.¹ Following meeting of Sixteen,² Drafting Committee worked out draft statement of Sixteen in response to Chinese Communist statement³ delivered by British February 11. Sixteen Ambassadors⁴ will refer draft to governments for final consideration.⁵ Draft statement follows: “The Governments of the countries which have contributed forces for the United Nations force in Korea have noted the statement⁶ made by the North Korean authorities on February 5 and that made by the Chinese authorities and communicated to Her Britannic Majesty’s Chargé d’Affaires in Peking on February 7. They have given careful study to these statements and to the proposals made therein.

“The Governments concerned reaffirm that their aim in Korea is to see the establishment of a unified, independent and democratic Korea, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions. To this end, as they have often stated, they wish to see free elections held under United Nations supervision for the constitution of a National Assembly. They are glad to note that the North Korean and Chinese authorities also favor free elections and they welcome the announcement that Chinese forces are to be withdrawn from North Korea.

“There appears, however, to be some doubt as to the precise interpretation to be placed on the North Korean proposals. In articles published on February 11, 1958 in Pravda and Izvestia the call for the withdrawal of foreign forces is merely ‘a preliminary to a peaceful solution of the Korean problem by the Koreans themselves’, and this appears to have been the position taken by Mr. Chou En-lai in his report to the National People’s Congress on February 10.⁷The North Korean Ambassador in Peking is reported as having stated that the ‘purpose of supervision by a neutral nations organization was to see that all political parties and public figures in both North and South Korea would have freedom of action, speech, publication, assembly and association’ but that ‘such supervision should not intervene in the elections’. The North Korean Ambassador in Moscow is reported as having made a statement to the same effect. These interpretations appear to call for some clarification and the Governments of the sixteen countries concerned would be glad to know whether, when the North Korean authorities speak of a ‘neutral nations organ’ to supervise the elections, they accept that these should be held under United Nations auspices and that there should be adequate supervision not only of the preliminaries but also of the elections themselves. They would also be glad to know whether it is accepted that representation in the new National Assembly shall be in proportion to the indigenous population.

“If the Chinese authorities will seek from the North Korean authorities clarification of the points mentioned above with such other details of the Korean proposals as may be relevant, the Governments concerned will give them careful consideration.

“A copy of this statement⁸ is being transmitted to the United Nations.”

Dulles

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 795.00/3–458. Confidential; Priority; Limit Distribution. Drafted by Parsons and cleared by Lane.
1. In telegram 578 to Seoul, March 4, the Department noted that a meeting of the Sixteen associated nations had been called for March 4 to consider a response to the Chinese Communist proposal to withdraw all foreign troops from Korea. The Embassy was instructed to consult with the Government of the Republic of Korea to urge the importance of discretion in public statements concerning the proposal. (ibid.)
2. An 18-page transcript of the meeting of the Sixteen on March 4 is ibid., NA Files: Lot 60 D 680, 20.5 Meeting of the Sixteen. The meeting was devoted largely to consideration of U.S. and U.K. draft responses to the Chinese proposal to withdraw foreign troops from Korea. At the suggestion of Walter Robertson, who chaired the meeting, a drafting committee composed of representatives of the United Kingdom, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States was appointed to draft a composite statement based upon the earlier drafts.
3. See footnote 3, Document 213.
4. Fifteen of the 16 nations that fought together as the U.N. forces in Korea were represented at the meeting. South Africa withdrew from active participation in the deliberations in 1956. On March 10 British Embassy Counselor A.J. de la Mare proposed to show the draft reply to the South African Embassy for their information and to ensure that they did not object to its content. De la Mare was certain that the South Africans would raise no questions about the reply. (Memorandum of conversation, March 10; Department of State, Central Files, 795.00/3–1058)
5. The preliminary draft reply was revised slightly in the course of extensive discussions among representatives of the 15 nations in Washington. The text of the reply to the People’s Republic of China on April 9 incorporated revisions proposed by Canada and the United Kingdom (see Document 221). Memoranda of the conversations concerning the proposed reply, March 6–April 2, are in Department of State, Central File 795.00; see Supplement.
6. See footnote 2, Document 213.
7. According to telegram 588 to Seoul, March 5, the drafting committee added the following footnote at this point: “The drafting group has been unable to identify the reference articles in question. Therefore, unless the texts can be made available so as to ensure that the quotes are accurate, the drafting group recommends that this sentence be deleted.” (Department of State, Central Files, 795.00/3-558)
8. Telegram 588 also indicated that the word “statement” should be replaced by “reply”.