Office of the Historian

241. Memorandum From the Director of the Office of Northeast Asian Affairs (Parsons) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson)0

Washington, September 6, 1958.

SUBJECT

  • Revised Appendix B

The Ambassador and CINCUNC have now transmitted the Korean counterproposal on the revised Appendix B.1A summary of the significant aspects of this counterproposal follows:

1.
The text proposed by the Koreans includes a specific U.S. commitment to maintain in Korea indefinitely two U.S. divisions, some Air Force units and other supporting elements. According to the Minister of National Defense, President Rhee insisted on this statement.
2.
The ROK version accepts the force level, to be supported by the U.S. through calendar year 1959, as agreed in the force reduction negotiations. Because of a ROK inter-service controversy, however, a larger ROK Army decrease (to 565,000 rather than 566,960) and a smaller ROK Marine Corps decrease (to 26,000 rather than 24,000) have resulted.
3.
The Korean version proposes that U.S. military assistance commitments, in terms of specific types of weapons and equipment including additional jet squadrons and Navy vessel replacements, be spelled out in Appendix B.
4.
Other changes in language are also proposed and some paragraphs of the text prepared by us have been deleted in the ROK text.

The Ambassador and CINCUNC have requested that delivery of the jets be delayed pending efforts to reconcile the U.S. and ROK versions of the Appendix B text. Their reason is that it appears a satisfactory agreement on Appendix B can be reached (including the force level we are prepared to support) in view of President Rhee’s approval of the ROK counterproposal. They feel that delivery of the jets at present, in view of the ROK counterproposal, would greatly weaken their negotiating position in reaching a final agreement.

Defense is now analyzing the ROK counterproposal and will submit to us a draft reply incorporating the views of the services. In approving our Circular 1752 memorandum on the revised Appendix B,3 the [Page 497] Under Secretary authorized that changes in the text be approved by FE and Defense, with the approval of L, H, W/MSC and ICA. It will, therefore, be necessary to clear the reply drafted by Defense with ICA, H, W/MSC and L before transmitting it to the field.

  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 795.00/9–658. Secret. Drafted by Barbis.↩
  2. Reference is to UK 978414 from CINCUNC, September 3, which has not been found.↩
  3. Circular telegram 175, December 13, 1955, outlined the proper exercise of the treaty-making powers of the United States.↩
  4. See footnote 3, Document 230.↩