Letter from Chi Whan Choi to Former President Harry S. Truman

HEADQUARTERS NATIONAL POLICE, REPUBLIC OF KOREA Seoul, Korea Fills 24 October 1953 ASPA-SL-477 My dear Sir: Please accept my sincere apology for not acknowledging receipt of your most cordial letter dated August 14 sooner. Pray believe me in saying that everyday since I received the deeply appreciated letter, I have purposed writing to you, and everyday have put it off till a better and less busy tomorrow. Be that as it may, quite apart from the commercial principle of debtor and creditor, my conscience has recently begun to reproach almost intolerably my long silence. Surely considerable space has elapsed since my last letter, that pretty good amount of news must have been accumulated in the interim, did I know rightly where to find, and how to arrange them. Happily, how- ever, after this tedious preamble, I am enabled to inform you that all is quite alright in Seoul and that all in this headquarters is improving and hopeful. Office is running smoothly to the best of my ability, and I am getting more and more habituated to my new condition of life, and also discovering more and more how much reason I have to be thankful that my lines have fallen to me in such a worthy position. I am struggling my way with as much heart as ever-a man must ever struggle--wit) the old measure of strength, courage, and faith, just like Hannibal across the Alps. At the same time, I presume I should be stupid or very thankless indeed, if I did not congratulate myself every hour of the day, on the lot which it has pleased Providence to assign me. is We Koreans are extremely grateful for the expression of good-will and friendship of our American allies, which has been embodied not only in assisting and encouraging us in the struggle against the spread of com- munism, but also in offering a helping hand to support and guide us in the rehabilitation of this war-ravaged land. We know what war is, the suffering that always results from war, but we also know that it would be better to die than to give up our freedom and our unification of south and north Korea. Law enforcement in this country is becoming a. more and more import- ant part of our government. It is a part that so few understand, or appreciate, as you well know. Meanwhile, it is very cheering to me to re- collect that on 21 October 1953, at 9.30 a.m., which was one of the most beautiful mornings ever sent from heaven to earth, we police officials of this country celebrated the eighth anniversary of the birth of the Korean National Police in 1945. Over three thousand policemen in Seoul area