Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson and Ambassador of France Henri Bonnet

3 31 DEPARTMENT OF STATE Corf Memorandum of Conversation 189 July 17, 1950 DATE: Recent Korean Developments as they affect the SUBJECT: International Situation The French Ambassador PARTICIPANTS: The Secretary the 8. ARCHIVES "NATIONAL RECORDS SERVICE" AND s/s EUR FE COPIES TO: Ambassador Bonnet called today at his request. He said that 1-1403 Mr. Schuman had asked him to touch base with me regarding Korea and its effect on the situation in general. I gave him a brief resume of the most recent military developments and indicated to him the line some sixty miles south of Seoul which we had been endeavoring to hold and the one where we would next make our stand. I stressed to him our conviction that as soon as we got reinforcements into south Korea the military situation would bem come stabilized and a successful counter-offensive could be set in motion. I added that President Truman would shortly announce the steps which he proposed to take to strengthen the country militarily. Mr. Bonnet said that the new French cabinet was anxious to know what effect our military operations in Korea would have on European rearmament. I assured him that the Korean situation had made it seem all the more important for us to proceed energetically and rapidly to the rearmament of the Atlantic Pact nations and that this was one of the questions to which the permanent group of Deputies in London would address itself. The Ambassador asked what information I could give him on the "negotiations" between the British and the Russians on the subject of Korea. I told him that Ambassador Kelly had seen Gromyko and had expressed to him the British view that Russia intercede to put a stop to the North Korea aggression, that Mr. Gromyko had countered by asking him if the British Govern- ment had any suggestions to offer and that the British Ambassador had said that his government's suggestion was the one made above. DECLASSIFIED e a 11652, Sec. 3(E) and S(D) or (E) Mr. Bonnet Dept. of State letter, 3-16-76 de RITHE . NARS Date 6-11-76