Memorandum of Conversation with Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Dean Rusk, W. Walton Butterworth, Harry N. Howard, and Representatives of the Department of Defense

TOP SECRET 124 554 DEPARTMENT OF STATE ARCHIVES all RECORDS SERVICE* of appending b AND Memorandum of Conversation DATE: April 24, 1950 SUBJECT: Japanese Peace Treaty PARTICIPANTS: Department of State - The Secretary, Mr. Rusk, FE, Mr. Butterworth, s/J, Mr. Howard, S. 166.7 Department of Defense - Secretary Johnson, Secretary Pace, Under Secretary Voorhees, General Bradley, Admiral Sherman, General Vandenberg, General Collins, General Burns. COPIES TO: (No copies made) yes iR 1-1493 Secretary Acheson explained that he had suggested the meeting for the purpose of further exploring the problems connected with a Japanese peace treaty and of bringing the views of the State and Defense Departments into closer agreement so that he might be better prepared for the forthcoming dis- cussions with Mr. Bevin and Mr. Schuman in early May. He recounted briefly the events beginning with his discussions with Mr. Bevin and Mr. Schuman in September 1949. Following these discussions a letter was sent by the Department of State requesting the views of the Defense Department concerning U.S. military requirements in the event a peace treaty with Japan were to be negotiated, and Secretary Johnson sent his reply of December 23 enclosing the opinion of the Joint Chiefs that they regarded a peace treaty as pre- mature. The Secretary said that in view of the mutually exclusive character of the two requirements insisted upon by the Joint Chiefs for a peace treaty, viz, that U.S. forces remain in Japan and that the USSR and the de facto government of China be parties to the peace treaty, he regarded the Joint Chiefs' statement that a peace treaty was "premature" as a masterpiece of understatement, since these requirements would make the conclusion of a peace treaty impossible. He referred also to the subsequent conversations with Mr. Voorhees and Mr. Dorr and to the proposal which Mr. Voorhees had made on March 23 that negotiations be initiated with our friendly Allies looking toward a peace treaty covering political and economic matters but leaving unchanged the occupation regime of control and SCAP's reserve powers for the purpose of assuring the maintenance of security with respect to Japan. The Department of State had considered Mr. Voorhees' proposal and numerous other arrangements for protecting the security of the United States and its friendly Allies should a peace treaty be concluded. There were two aspects of the DECLASSIFIED security E. O. 11652, Sec. 3(E) and 5(D) or (E) 12.29.75 Dept. of State letter, Aug. 9, 1973 TOP SECRET 00.0.0 67R.2.9.76 Bg NLT, He NARS Date 6.4.76