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

51. Memorandum of Conversation¹

Washington, May 18, 1965, 5:03–5:41 p.m.

SUBJECT

• Visit of President Park, Communique Meeting

PARTICIPANTS

• U.S. Side
  • The President
  • William P. Bundy, Assistant Secretary of State, FE
  • Ambassador Lloyd N. Hand
  • Ambassador Winthrop G. Brown
  • Robert W. Barnett, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Far Eastern Economic Affairs
  • James C. Thomson, NSC
  • Robert A. Fearey, Director, East Asian Affairs
  • Dr. Paul Crane, Interpreter
• Korean Side
  • President Park
  • Key Young Chang, Deputy Prime Minister
  • Duk Choo Moon, Acting Foreign Minister
  • Sung Eun Kim, Minister of National Defense
  • Jong Chul Hong, Minister of Information
  • Hu Rak Lee, Secretary General to the President
  • Ambassador Hyun Chul Kim
  • Sang Ho Cho, Interpreter

The President welcomed President Park and congratulated him warmly on his Press Club speech of that noon; he understood that it had been very well received, and this was high praise since the Press Club audience was a tough one.

The President said that Ambassador Brown had forwarded him a letter dated May 7 which contained a check from the Korean people to assist the victims of the tornadoes which had devastated the Midwest in April. The letter indicated that the check was intended both to help the victims of the tornadoes and to strengthen friendship between Korea and the United States. This gift was symbolic of the way the people of the two countries feel about each other. This brotherly and neighborly gesture was worth more to us than millions of dollars; it was deeply touching. The President asked President Park to tell the National Council which had sent the letter and check that the money would be used to assist veterans of the Korean War who had suffered loss of their homes or of members of their families in the tornadoes.

The President said that every chair had been filled at the dinner the previous evening. That morning a number of the guests had told Mrs. Johnson and him how indebted they were for having been included to honor President Park and, through him, the people of Korea. The President said that he and Mrs. Johnson had been much pleased to see how many people had been prepared to travel all the way across the country to attend the dinner.

The President said that the previous day President Park and he, at his initiative, had covered a number of topics which he had thought were of greatest interest to President Park and to the Korean people. The topics had included a status of forces agreement, Korean unification, economic assistance, support of the Korean forces, and assurances that the United States would not withdraw armed forces from Korea, at least without first obtaining the understanding of the Korean Government.

The President said that he and President Park appeared to have pretty well covered the waterfront when they finished. He had asked President Park a number of times whether he had something to raise, and had asked him not to hesitate to do so. He would welcome the President’s now raising anything he might wish.

The President said that he and Secretary Rusk had been trying to keep the rebels and the loyalists in the Dominican Republic from attacking each other throughout the night.

President Park said that it might seem a small matter but he wished to note that he had discussed the MAP Transfer Program with the Secretary of Defense at breakfast. Secretary McNamara had said that he understood the difficulty, that he would study the matter further, and that he would keep it under review. President Park said that he would like the President, too, to keep it in mind.

The President said that he was familiar with the program. He would be happy to make the gesture of eliminating this requirement but this would lead to trouble with Congress. He said that he understood the difficulty, however, and that we would be as understanding as we could.

The President said that he still did not have any indication whether he would have three billion dollars or nothing for military and economic assistance in the coming year. As President Park had noted, he had had to postpone certain visits by friends from other parts of the world because he disliked meeting and discussing problems against a background of such uncertainty over his own appropriations.

President Park said that the Republic of Korea had 600,000 men in its armed forces. These men were well-trained and well-disciplined. He wanted President Johnson to realize that these forces really formed part of U.S. forces ready to fight against Communism. In a fight they would be with the United States; but at the same time they were dependent on U.S. assistance.

The President said that President Park’s assurance was very heartening. The President emphasized what he had said the day before: that the action the Koreans have taken in sending forces to Viet-Nam is not only a help to us in Viet-Nam, but also on Capitol Hill.

President Park said he had an additional item to raise, that of Korea’s diplomatic relations with African nations. He had discussed this matter with Ambassador Brown. Successful diplomacy in Africa was important to Korea, and on this matter they needed our help; but they could also perhaps be of help to us. This was a subject on which the President had undoubtedly been briefed by his advisors, but President Park wanted to emphasize the cooperative role our two nations might play together in Africa.

President Johnson expressed his appreciation of President Park’s offer of mutual assistance and said that we would explore this matter further.

President Park commented that his meeting with the Secretary of State that morning had been very successful; he was sure that the President was informed of the results.

President Johnson asked if there were any other matters that should be discussed. He repeated that U.S. Government officials and the guests at the dinner the night before had deeply appreciated the chance to meet with Park. He commented on the Administration’s high regard for Ambassador Kim and his wife as strong friends and allies; he said that they fitted into our society with ease and worked with our people most effectively. He wanted to compliment the Ambassador.

President Park expressed his thanks for the role played by Ambassador Brown; he noted that a number of problems had been solved since Ambassador Brown’s arrival.

President Johnson responded that Ambassador Brown was one of our most trusted and able officials. He then asked if any of President Park’s associates desired to raise any further items—otherwise they could move on to the communique and then to the reception.

Defense Minister Kim raised the problem of the low state of pay of Korean armed forces; the pay scale was so low, he said, that they faced serious difficulties in morale. The United States should be concerned with this matter in considering these forces as its own troops.

The President said that he was not familiar with this problem but would explore it further with our Secretary of Defense. He said that Congress was pressing for pay increases for our own armed forces, which would be difficult within budgetary limits.

President Park then expressed his thanks for the communique and also for the President’s new proposal for an Institute for Technology and Applied Science; he was glad to accept this proposal.

President Johnson noted that the two Presidents belonged to the “same lodge” of school teachers.

Deputy Prime Minister Chang asked if it would be possible to strike out the word “annual” on page 5 of the communique; we might substitute the word “applicable”. President Johnson agreed to strike the word “annual” without making a substitution. He added, however, that we would have to be candid with our own press and Congress, as they realize that our assistance is subject to annual legislative review.

Secretary General Lee commented that their side understood our legislative system in this regard. He added that since we had helped the Koreans in this way, they would try to work even harder to make good use of our assistance.

President Johnson said that if he could always produce documents like this where he went, he would get a lot of votes.

He asked if Ambassador Brown or Ambassador Kim had anything to add; both responded in the negative.

President Johnson asked President Park to tell Mrs. Park that he and Mrs. Johnson were looking forward to seeing them at 7 o’clock at the reception; they would be slightly late, because he had some further business on his schedule. He concluded the meeting by expressing his hope that President Park had enjoyed himself, and that he had found U.S. officials helpful and courteous.

1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Country File, Korea, Memos, Vol. II, July 1964 to August 1965. Secret. Drafted by Thomson and Fearey and approved by the White House on June 5. The meeting took place in the Cabinet Room at the White House. The time and place of the meeting are from the President’s Daily Diary. (Ibid.) After the meeting Johnson and Pak met with members of the media. (Ibid.)