viction that she must not be put at a military disadvantage in relationship to India. But that would be much different, I think, than a formal alliance, because that would change completely, of course, the SEATO relationship and all the rest. So we are trying to balance off what is one of our more difficult problems. This is true, of course, in other areas, in the Middle East, but I would say it is most complicated right now in India. We had hoped that a settlement of the Kashmir dispute would bring about an improvement in the relations between the countries, but Kashmir is further from being settled today than it was 6 months ago. So I think we are just going to have to continue to work with this one. KOREA IX-55 "PROLONGATION OF [KOREAN] MILITARY RULE COULD CONSTITUTE A THREAT TO STABLE AND EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT": Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (White), Department of State, March 25, 1963 50 The military junta's effort to continue military rule for 4 more years has created a difficult situation in Korea. We believe that prolongation of military rule could constitute a threat to stable and effective government, and we understand that this whole matter is being reexamined by the Korean Government. We hope the junta and the major political groups in Korea can work out together a procedure for transition to civil government that will be acceptable to the nation as a whole.52 IX-56 UNITED STATES HOPE FOR THE EMERGENCE OF "RESPONSIBLE AND STABLE DEMOCRATIC RULE IN SOUTH KOREA": Reply Made by the President (Kennedy) to a Question Asked at a News Conference, April 3, 1963 5 53 51 Reference is to a proposal of Mar. 16, 1963, by the Korean Acting President and Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (General Park); see post, doc. IX-60, pars. 125 ff. 53 Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1963, p. 305. IX-57 THE "UNWARRANTED DETENTION BY COMMUNIST FORCES SINCE MAY 17" OF TWO UNITED NATIONS COMMAND PERSONNEL IN KOREA: Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (Phillips), Department of State, July 26, 1963 54 Tomorrow [July 27] marks the 10th anniversary of the Military Armistice Agreement 55 which brought a conclusion to the tragic strug gle in Korea. Although the people of Korea have since been spared the horrors of war, they have been denied the full fruits of the peace by the continued necessity of maintaining burdensome defenses against the threatening Communist forces in the north that were augmented almost from the moment the armistice was signed. The intransigence of the northern regime, with its Communist allies, has further frustrated the realization of the legitimate aspirations of the Korean people for the reunification of their country under a free act of selfdetermination. The United States Armed Forces, as part of the United Nations Command, stand today, and will continue to stand, with their Korean friends and allies in protecting the lives of the Korean people until lasting peace with justice can be attained. Two of their members, Captains Ben W. Stutts of Florence, Alabama, and Carleton Voltz of Frankfort, Michigan, have been under unwarranted detention by Communist forces since May 17. This anniversary would be an especially fitting time for their release in reflection of the concern for human welfare which brought about the armistice of 1953. IX-58 UNITED STATES CALL FOR "AN EARLY MEETING OF THE MILITARY ARMISTICE COMMISSION TO CONFRONT THE COMMUNIST SIDE WITH THESE LATEST MURDERS" OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN KOREA: Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (Phillips), Department of State, July 29, 1963 56 57 We are outraged by this latest incident, which is reminiscent of the Communist grenade attack on a guard post on our side last December, in which one U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded. There have been similar attacks on ROK [Republic of Korea] Army personnel as well. We are calling an early meeting of the Military Armistice Commission to confront the Communist side with these latest murders. 54 In the latest case, the ambush took place close to the southern edge Department of State Bulletin, Aug. 12, 1963, p. 246. 55 Text in American Foreign Policy, 1950–1955: Basic Documents, vol. I, pp. 724-750. 56 Department of State Bulletin, Aug. 19, 1963, p. 283. 57 The incident referred to resulted in the killing of two U.S. soldiers. of the demilitarized zone against a jeep carrying Ninth Regiment, First Cavalry, personnel to a guard post in the demilitarized zone. Automatic weapons, which are banned in the demilitarized zone, were used in the attack. In addition to calling an early meeting of the MAC, we will have to consider what other actions we will take. It is this kind of deliberately planned and executed violation, as well as the unjust detention of persons like Captain [Ben W.] Stutts and Captain [Carleton] Voltz,58 which reminds us that the Korean and Chinese Communists keep the peace in Korea only insofar as deterred by the continued presence of U.N. strength. IX-59 UNITED STATES MILITARY “INTENSIVE ALERT AND SEARCH OPERATIONS" AGAINST FIVE NORTH KOREAN INFILTRATORS: Statement Read to Correspondents by the Director of the Office of News (Phillips), Department of State, July 30, 1963 59 The facts of today's encounter, so far as we know them, are as follows: At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Korean time, an estimated group of five North Korean infiltrators were seen by South Korean police near Munsan-ni, about 7 miles south of the point of yesterday's attack.60 Fifteen U.S. soldiers were dispatched from a nearby First Cavalry Division unit to assist in running them down. In the ensuing fire fight, one American serviceman, one Korean police officer, and two of the North Korean agents were killed. At this point, the investigation of the facts is still going on. As far as countermeasures are concerned, these are under discussion here and with our people in Korea. Today's incident is one result of the intensive alert and search operations now underway. I would like to repeat what I said yesterday: that these incidents remind us that the peace in Korea is kept only by U.N. strength and determination to resist Communist aggression. At this point, these attacks appear to be a reflection of the North Korean Communist activities in connection with the 10th anniversary of the armistice.61 However, I would not want to exclude the possibility of their being linked to wider developments in Asia. 60 See supra. 61 750. See American Foreign Policy, 1950-1955: Basic Documents, vol. I, pp. 724 IX-60 "EFFORTS TO PROMOTE UNITED NATIONS OBJECTIVES IN KOREA": Thirteenth Report of the U.N. Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea, Submitted August 23, 1963 (Excerpts) 62 5. Since 1 September 1962, the Commission, and the Committee acting on its behalf, has continued its efforts to promote United Nations objectives in Korea and to seek an early and proper settlement of the Korean question, subject to limitations imposed upon it by the continued non-acceptance of the United Nations principles and resolutions for the unification of Korea by the North Korean authorities. 6. Pursuant to its mandate, the Commission has continued to be available for observation and consultation in the development of representative government in Korea. It has followed with great attention the general political developments in the Republic of Korea, and has travelled and consulted freely. Moreover, as opposed to elections in previous years, the Government took the initiative in extending to UNCURK an invitation to conduct an observation of the national referendum on the new Constitution. 7. In accepting the invitation, the Commission put eight observer teams into the field. These teams spent five days in the Special City of Seoul and in eight of the nine Provinces, from 14 to 19 December 1962. They visited nineteen cities and many provincial areas. On referendum day itself, they observed balloting at 143 voting stations and attended ballot-counting at seventeen vote-counting stations. Interviews were conducted with officials of the Government, the Referendum Management Committees, the National Reconstruction Movement and with a large number of individuals." 8. It may be noted in passing that the Acting President and Chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction (SCNR), General Park Chung Hee, in a letter addressed to the Chairman of UNCURK on 7 January 1963,** has declared, inter alia, that the "Commission will be invited to observe" the forthcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections. He added that these would be exemplary, democratic, fair and honest. 9. There have been a number of occasions when the members of the Commission have conferred with the leaders of the Government and political parties who have maintained their co-operation with it and have reaffirmed their determination to continue such co-operation in the future. 65 16. Since the submission of its annual report to the General Assembly dated 1 September 1962 and the addendum to that report dated 19 November 1962,** the Commission has continued closely to follow developments pertaining to the question of unification of Korea and has remained available at all times, as it continues to be, to discharge its mandate with regard to the achievement of the United Nations objectives on Korean unification. 17. The Commission is obliged to report again that whereas the Government of the Republic of Korea has fully continued its adherence to the United Nations stand on unification, the Communist authorities to the North have maintained their negative attitude towards that stand, thereby further delaying a proper and definitive settlement in Korea. 18. The Commission is of the opinion that such realistic and peaceful settlement in accordance with established United Nations principles arrived at in a U.N. doc. A/5512, pp. 1-2, 3-4, 6, 10-12. The Commission is composed of Representatives of Australia, Chile, the Netherlands, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Turkey. 3 See pars. 44–50 infra. Not printed here. Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 1054-1057. U.N. doc. A/5213/Add. 1. speedy manner would not only fulfil the national aspiration of the Korean people, but also enable the unified country to achieve a full measure of national stability and sound economic progress. 19. Broadcasts over Pyongyang radio and government statements appearing in the North Korean Press during the period under review reportedly contained proposals bearing a similarity to those made in previous years which were mentioned in the Commission's annual report in 1958. In particular, the North Korean authorities called for the withdrawal of "foreign" troops from the Republic of Korea as a prerequisite to negotiations with the latter on unification. 20. Moreover, an explanatory memorandum of 23 June 1962 of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics supporting the inclusion in the agenda of the General Assembly at its seventeenth session of an item entitled "The withdrawal of foreign troops from South Korea" had stated that "the foreign troops in South Korea are under the United Nations flag" and that "so long as there are foreign troops in the south of the Korean peninsula, Korea cannot be unified by peaceful means." 6 21. As has been explained in paragraph 11 above, the First Committee at the seventeenth session noted the rejection by the North Korean régime of the competence and authority of the United Nations to discuss or to take action on the Korean question." 24. In this connexion, it may be pertinent to recall also a memorandum of the Government of the Republic of Korea circulated to Member States at the seventeenth session of the General Assembly " which, inter alia, declares that "The Republic of Korea, which requested the assistance of United Nations forces in time of peril, regards their continued presence as necessary for defence against renewed Communist aggression and to achieve a just solution of the Korean question". The memorandum adds that "The Republic of Korea requests that the United Nations forces remain until their mission is accomplished". 25. The Commission recalls that it was the presence and the reporting of its predecessor, the United Nations Commission on Korea (UNCOK), which culminated in the advent of United Nations action in Korea. It should be noted that this was the first collective action of its kind in the history of international organizations. This action remains a precedent and reminder against aggression in Korea or elsewhere. UNCURK's continued presence in Korea-though regretfully in the territory under the control of the Republic of Korea onlyas a representative body of the United Nations in a troubled area, acts as a political deterrent against renewed conflict. The Armistice Agreement of 27 July 1953 remains in force and has not been superseded by a proper peace settlement. The maintenance of peace-though unfortunately in the form of a prolonged armistice-became and remains the responsibility of the United Nations forces in Korea, which represents the strongest guarantee against any further aggression. 71 26. Regarding incidents between individual members of United Nations Command contingents and a number of individual Korean nationals, which have been annually referred to in General Assembly debates on the Korean question, the Commission as the principal representative of the United Nations in Korea. on the basis of its observations, is of the opinion that such cases are incidental in nature and limited in number. 27. To turn to another question, namely the persistent criticisms directed at the Commission, including its functions, objectively, legality and composition, it considers it unnecessary to comment on such attitudes in view of the determined support accorded to the Commission year after year by the General Assembly. * Text in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, pp. 1226–1229. U.N. doc. A/5140, pars. 4 and 7. 68 Not reprinted here. See American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1962, pp. 1057-1058. "Text in American Foreign Policy, 1950-1955: Basic Documents, vol. I, pp. 724-750. Doc. IX-60 |