Office of the Historian

252. Telegram From the Embassy in Japan to the Department of State0

Tokyo, March 18, 1962, 10 p.m.

2586. From Harriman.1 Have asked Ambassador Berger to report on my conversations ROK officials while in Seoul. Was impressed by determination and present sincerity of group to eliminate corruption and raise moral tone of government and country in all fields. There is determination of revolutionary atmosphere which is leading them to questionable methods as in case of new law on political activity.2 Was assured that probably not more than 20 percent of four thousand affected individuals would be disqualified from political activity though not disqualified from government employment. This revolutionary group, including Chairman Pak, undoubtedly looking to United States for moral as well as material support. Therefore believe our Ambassador and other American representatives in Korea, can influence to some extent future actions. Will reserve further comment until I hear from Berger. In any event, I believe we are fortunate in having in this Asian country a group dedicated to personal integrity and opposed to corruption as well as strongly anti-Communist, though the road to satisfactory democracy may be a bit rough. Therefore, recommend we do not change for the present our aid policies on account of this latest political action. Ambassador Berger should, however, be fully supported in his protest against this type of action without prior consultation.

Reischauer
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 795B.00/3-1862. Secret. Repeated to Geneva for Rusk, Seoul, and CINCPAC.↩
  2. After the Far Eastern Chiefs of Mission conference in Baguio, the Philippines, Assistant Secretary Harriman visited Taipei March 15, Seoul March 16-17, and Tokyo March 17-19. Accounts of his discussions with Korean Government officials are in telegrams 1041 and 1047 from Seoul, March 17 and 18. (Ibid., 110.15-HA/3-1763 and 795B.00/3-1962) While in Tokyo, Harriman discussed Korean-Japanese relations with Japanese leaders. An account is in telegram 2618 from Tokyo, March 20. (Ibid., 110.15-HA/3-2062)↩
  3. The Political Purification Law, announced by the SCNR on March 16, applied to a diverse group of former government officials, politicians, party functionaries, illicit fortune makers, and staff members of certain social organizations as well as those “conspicuously responsible” for political corruption from February 4, 1960, to May 15, 1961. (Airgram A-308 from Seoul, March 20; ibid., 795B.00/3-2062)↩