Memorandum of Conversation with David McNicol, Mr. Tomlinson, and U. Alexis Johnson

RE DECLASSIFIED SECRIVE DEPARTMENT SECURITY OF INFORMATION STATE E.O. 13526 Authority NLT 2010-001 9 NARA PMN Date Memorandum of Conversation DATE: May 3, 1952 SUBJECT: Korean Armistice Negotiations PARTICIPANTS: Mr. David McNicol - Australian Embassy Mr. Tomlinson - British Embassy FE - Mr. Johnson COPIES TO: FE G UNA EUR RE u. s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 16-61120-1 Mr. McNicol telephoned me this morning under instructions of Ambassador Spender to state that the Australian Government desired to suggest that consideration be given to proposing that the re- screening of non-repatriates, by a suitable international agency or joint Red Cross teams with Communist observation if desired, take place prior to rather than following an armistice. Mr. McNicol stated that the Australian Government did not suggest or believe that such a proposal should be made at this time but should be considered in the light of a possible future move which would clearly demonstrate to world opinion that the UNC had exhausted every possibility of obtaining agreement with the Communists. I told Mr. McNicol that prior to adopting our present position we had given careful consideration to this possibility and rejected it on the grounds that there is probably no difference in possi- bilities of acceptance by the Communists and that re-screening prior to an armistice offered marked tages, which I detailed, to the UNC over rescreening subsequent to an armistice. I said that it appeared to us that so far as obtaining an armistice was concerned the problem resolved around whether the Communists would accept our basic position on POWs and not around the details of the proposed rescreening of non-repatriates. Mr. MeNicol stated that he personally understood our position but that Ambassador Spender would wish to call the Department on Monday to discuss the matter further. Subsequently, SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION