Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XIX, Part 1, Korea, 1969–1972

159. Memorandum From Secretary of Defense Laird to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger)¹

Washington, October 13, 1972.

SUBJECT

• Republic of Korea Troops in Vietnam (ROKFV)

I have received the paper that the Under Secretaries Committee has sent to the President recommending the retention of one Korean Division in Vietnam through the 1973 dry season.² I believe that the paper presents a balanced consideration of the question. The Department of Defense participated fully in its preparation and I support its recommendation.

I would, however, like to make two points which I believe important to any consideration of retention of ROK forces in Vietnam.

• —The United States must be particularly careful not to disturb the primary commitment between the ROK and the GVN. The US role should be no more than secondary, facilitating the fulfillment of South Vietnam’s military requirement. The paper makes this point and I wish to emphasize its importance. In the proposed instruction to the field, however, the paper refers to a “joint US–GVN proposal” (p. 4). It would be more appropriate to refer to it as “a GVN proposal endorsed by the United States”.
• —We must also be careful not to link the presence of US forces in Korea with Korean forces in Vietnam. Both NSDM 113³ and NSDM 161⁴ prohibited tying those two separate issues together. To tie down further an American division in Korea would reduce the flexibility of our forces at a time when force reductions have made flexibility essential to our national secrity.

Melvin R. Laird

1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–224, National Security Decision Memoranda, NSDM 113. Top Secret.
2. Document 157.
3. Document 96.
4. Document 132.