Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXIX, Part 1, Korea

233. Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Korea¹

Washington, January 28, 1968, 0152Z.

106065. Ref: Seoul’s 3702.² Following is text of reply to be made by Senior MAC Member:

• “1. I have received the message which you (Major General Pak Chung-kuk, Senior North Korean Member of Military Armistice Commission) sent me through the channels of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.
• 2. My reply is as follows: The policy of the United States Government with respect to the S.S. Pueblo and its crew was publicly stated when the President of the United States on January 26 said, ‘We shall continue to use every means available to find a prompt and peaceful solution to the problem.’³
• 3. The crew of the S.S. Pueblo are United States Naval personnel, acting under orders of the United States Navy. Two of them are civilian scientists, specialists in hydrographic work. You have captured these men by force of arms. At the very least, they are entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions of 1949, to which you subscribe.
• 4. I am relieved to receive information through unofficial channels that they are good condition, the wounded are receiving normal medical care, and that the body of the one who died is preserved.
• 5. It has been suggested that further details could be obtained through direct contact between both sides. I therefore request that the names of the injured and dead be provided us through the Joint Duty Officer, and I request an immediate meeting of the Senior Members of both sides to discuss and resolve this matter promptly. We are agreeable to either a private or open meeting.”
• 7. Use Nodis Cactus in this series.

Rusk

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Korea—Pueblo Incident—Cactus IV, Cactus Miscellaneous Papers, February to December 1968. Secret; Flash; Nodis; Cactus. Repeated to USUN. Drafted at the White House, where it was cleared by the President; cleared by Berger and Walsh; and approved by Katzenbach.
2. Document 232.
3. The statement is from the President’s televised address to the nation; see footnote 6, Document 223.