Office of the Historian

257. Memorandum From the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs (Kissinger) to Secretary of Defense Schlesinger, Washington, October 8, 1974.1 2

Washington, October 8, 1974

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
WASHINGTON D.C. 20506

October 8, 1974

National Security Study Memorandum 211

TO: The Secretary of Defense
The Deputy Secretary of State
The Director of Central Intelligence

SUBJECT: U.S. Security Assistance to the Republic of Korea

The President has requested a study of our Security Assistance Program for the Republic of Korea. The study should define basic U.S. objectives as regards our security assistance to South Korea, and should then set forth the policy options that will give effect to these objectives.

The study should assume no significant changes in the level or missions of U.S. forces in the Republic of Korea during the period of transition to new security arrangements following the termination of the United Nations Command.

The study should include, but not necessarily be limited to, consideration of the following issues:

  • — Should a termination date be set for grant military assistance, and if so, what should that date be?
  • — Should the rate of shift from grant military assistance to FMS credits, defined in NSDM 227, be accelerated and, if so, what should the new rate be?
  • — What types and numbers of high performance aircraft should be included in the Korean Force Modernization Program?
  • — What modifications, if any, should be made in the five-year Modernization Program for the Republic of Korea prescribed in NSDM 129?

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The study should be prepared by the NSC Interdepartmental Group for East Asia. The study should be submitted no later than November 1, 1974, for review by the NSC Senior Review Group prior to its consideration by the President.

[signed]
Henry A. Kissinger

cc: Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

  1. Source: Ford Library, NSC Institutional Files (H-Files), Box H–32, NSSM 211, Review of U.S. Security Assistance to the Republic of Korea (2). Top Secret. A copy was sent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.↩
  2. Kissinger asked the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the CIA to produce a study of the U.S. security assistance program to the Republic of Korea.↩