611.95B/5–2550
The Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk) to the Ambassador in Korea (Muccio)
Dear John: In reference to your letter of May 25, 1950, I would like to assure you that I share your interest in ensuring that Korea receives its fair share of publicity in its successful struggle against Communist aggression. I therefore appreciate your calling this problem to my attention and hope that you will do so in any similar cases which may arise.
After studying the USIS story of May 19, the AP news story of May 20 and the reports on the Foreign Ministers Conference, I have come to the conclusion that the omission of Korea from the statements in question was probably not an oversight. All of the statements released from the Atlantic Council talks appear to concern problems discussed by the Foreign Ministers in London and Paris. Since Korea was not the subject of such discussions, its omission from the statements should not be construed as an indication that this Government holds a diminished interest in the Korean problem.
The Departmental officers charged with the drafting of speeches and statements on U.S. policy are, in general, aware of the problem pointed out in your letter and I believe that they are making every effort to emphasize Korea’s importance. This, I believe, is evidenced by the enclosed recent statement on the Mutual Defense Assistance Program made by the Secretary before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in which he dealt with the pressures faced by Korea and stressed the importance of continued U.S. assistance.1
In order to make sure that continued publicity be given to the Korean problem and that unjustified omissions of Korea be avoided in future statements, I have circulated your letter to our Policy Information Officers for their future guidance.
Sincerely yours,
- The text of Mr. Acheson’s statement before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on June 5 was issued in Department of State press release no. 585; it was substantially similar to his statement on June 2 before the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Armed Services, which is printed in the Department of State Bulletin, June 12, 1950, p. 940.↩