795.00/1–251
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk)
Subject: Korean Cease-Fire Attempts
| Participants: | Mr. Erik Boheman—Swedish Ambassador |
| Dean Rusk—Assistant Secretary of State |
The Swedish Ambassador informed me that he had just had a message from Ambassador Hammerstrom in Peiping stating that Mr. [Page 4] Hammerstrom considered the situation with respect to a cease-fire “hopeless”. Apparently, this conclusion was not based upon any further communication from the Peiping Government. Mr. Hammerstrom stated that he could see only two possibilities of changing the situation: (1) a military demonstration that the Chinese Communists cannot have their own way in Korea, or (2) an acceptance by the UN of Red Chinese conditions. Mr. Hammerstrom added that he and Mr. Panikkar were in agreement on the unfavorable prospects.
I thanked the Swedish Ambassador and asked him to express our appreciation to his Government for their helpfulness.1
- A manuscript notation by Lucius D. Battle, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State, indicated that Mr. Acheson was informed of this conversation by Assistant Secretary Rusk.↩