Memorandum from Dean Rusk to Secretary of State Dean Acheson, with Attachments

3:00 appointment STAN ARD DRM NO. 64 Office Memorandum UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO : The Secretary DATE: January 19, 1951 THRU : s/s PRB FROM : FE - Mr. Rusk DR SUBJECT: Farewell Call by Dr. John M. Chang, Korean Ambassador, Upon the President. It is understood that the President and the Secretary will see the Korean Ambassador, Dr. John M. Chang, at 3:00 P.M. today at which time the Ambassador will pay his farewell call before his departure tomorrow to assume his new post as Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea. It is believed that the Ambassador may raise the following questions with the President: The Government of the Republic of Korea has repeatedly requested that the United States Government furnish rifles in large quantities (500,000 were mentioned) to Korean civilians and in particular to the Korean Youth Corps to aid in the defense of Korea. Not only has this question been raised in various communications to the Department of State and in a note to the White House dated January 10, 1951 (as yet unanswered), but also in private conversations with me. Furthermore, there are indications that the Gov- ernment of the Republic of Korea is attempting to make a direct approach to American public opinion on this question. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a memorandum to the Secretary of Defense dated January 17, 1951, have concluded that there is not at present any desirable, feasible, and timely method of appreciably increasing Korean forces to resist Communist aggression, and have accordingly recom- mended that the Korean Government be informed that, from the military point of view, experience indicates that the most effective utilization of members of the Korean Youth Corps and other qualified Korean males is to replace losses in existing Republic of Korea units. It is recommended, how- ever, that this decision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff not be communicated, as such, to the Korean Ambassador. In the past, replies to the reiterated requests of the Republic of Korea for additional arms for the civilian popu- lation have been to the effect that the Department of State and other appropriate agencies of the Government were giving active consideration to the various aspects of this question. The Korean Ambassador has also been given this information privately and it has been pointed out to him that the United DICLASSIFTED States E. a 21652. Sec. 30E and archit D.D. 11-1-24 af State PROJECT NLT 77-46 Ba NLY NC 12-5-74