Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, China and Japan, Volume XIV, Part 2

No. 666
Editorial Note

On August 4, Secretary Dulles arrived in the Republic of Korea for talks with President Rhee. On August 8, Dulles left Seoul for an overnight visit to Tokyo, after which he returned to the United States.

Dulles and Rhee discussed Japan-Korea issues during their meeting on August 5. Rhee complained that it was not wise to build up Japan economically and militarily. Dulles replied that the United States-Korea Mutual Defense Treaty would protect Korea from Japan as well as from the Soviet Union, that the United States no more than Korea wanted Japan to become again “a dominant power,” and that Japanese-Korean cooperation was needed for the security of the Western Pacific. For the memorandum of this conversation, see volume XV, page 1466. For discussion of Japan at the Dulles–Rhee meeting held August 6, see Document 671.