Memorandum of Conversation with George Laking, U. Alexis Johnson, and Harold Shullaw

NCT(KOREA/SO)577 $0 2 DEPARTMENT OF STATE aide Memorandum of Conversation of (24) DATE: January 11, 1952 SUBJECT: Korea PARTICIPANTS: Mr. Laking, Counselor - New Zealand Embassy FE - Mr. Johnson BNA - Mr. Shullaw COPIES TO: DECLASSIFIED FE, UNA, EUR, BNA, DC/R E.O. 13526 AuthorityRAC 5/3/10 NARA SDB Date 9/6/12 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 16-61120-1 Mr. Laking, Counselor of the New Zealand Embassy, called on me today to in- quire about the status of agreement on the statement to be issued, subsequent to an armistice, by the sixteen countries having forces in Korea. I told him that there was now general agreement on the statement, although Ethiopia had offered several suggestions on the language. I gave Mr. Laking the attached Aide-Memoire in reply to the one he had left with me on December 28,1951. After reading it, he expressed satisfaction with the reply. NARA SECURITY Mr. Laking then referred to a recent briefing at which he said Mr. Hickerson had indicated unification of Korea was not an immediate possibility. He said his Government wondered what our intentions are with respect to this problem once agreement on an armistice is achieved. I said that from a practical point of view, there did not appear much prospect of unification in the near future, but notwith- standing this fact, we have every intention of moving for immediate action in the UN after conclusion of an armistice. We will seek the appointment of a commission which would be empowered to consult and negotiate with interested Governments and authorities. This procedure has advantages over a conference since it would not be limited to any specific period of time. As a member of UN, we would be prepared to serve on such a commission, and regardless of the unpromising prospects would approach the task in a sincere effort to achieve results. We have given consideration to the alternative of the appointment by UN of an individual as Mediator but have con-29 cluded that the Korean situation does not lend itself to such a procedure. TOP EUR:BNA:JHShullaw:ek 1-14-52