317. Editorial Note
On November 18, 1963, Korean Foreign Minister Kim Yong-sik, who was attending the U.N. General Assembly session in New York, arrived in Washington for talks with Department of State officials. At 11 a.m. on November 19 Kim met with Secretary of State Rusk and then had lunch at the Department of State. A memorandum of conversation of the Rusk-Kim conversation, November 19, covered the following topics: the incidents of violence in the demilitarized zone, the Korean question in the United Nations, transition to civilian government, economic assistance for Korea, Korean-Japanese talks, U.S. representation at Korean presidential inauguration ceremonies, reports of withdrawals of U.S. forces, the Communist threat, and the Military Assistance Program. (Department of State, Central Files, POL KOR-US)
After lunch Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs Roger Hilsman met with Kim. The two men discussed many of the same topics that Rusk and Kim had raised that morning. In addition, Kim expressed hope that if President Kennedy visited the Far East, he would come to Korea. Christopher Norred, Jr., Officer in Charge of Korean Affairs, raised the question of status of forces negotiations. Kim responded that they were going well, but slowly, given their technical nature. Kim hoped that criminal jurisdiction could be discussed soon and assured Hilsman that there was no anti-Americanism among the Korean people. (Memorandum of conversation, November 19; ibid.) Foreign Minister Kim was scheduled to meet with Harlan Cleveland, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs, on November 20, but no record of their discussion has been found.