895.24/9–1648
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Army (Royall)
Dear Royall: The Department of State has received the preliminary list, transmitted as an enclosure to Mr. Draper’s letter of August [Page 1303] 19, 1948,1 of military equipment earmarked for transfer to the security forces of the Government of the Republic of Korea, particularly the Korean Constabulary.
It is my understanding that the mission of the Constabulary, as defined by the Department of the Army, provides that it shall be:
- 1.
- loyal to the Government of the Republic of Korea and not susceptible to defection in event of attempted coup d’état by political factions or individuals;
- 2.
- capable of maintaining internal order under conditions of political strife and inspired disorder;
- 3.
- capable of maintaining border patrols and of offering at least token resistance to invasion from the north;
- 4.
- organized to indicate clearly its peaceful purpose and to provide no plausible basis for allegations of its constituting a “threat” to north Korea.
It is my further understanding that the mission of the Korean Civil Police Force will be to perform the normal police functions of law enforcement and to cooperate when necessary with the Constabulary in the preservation of internal order, and that the Koreans Coast Guard will have responsibility for maintaining off-shore patrols and rescue work and for ensuring the security of Korean port facilities in so far as may be practicable.
It is the view of the Department of State that if the provisions of National Security Council Paper No. 8 of April 8, 1948—and particularly of paragraph 3 b (1) of that Paper—are to be effectively carried out, these security forces should be left with sufficient equipment, including arms and ammunition with combat reserve, for at least two years normal operations, on the basis of their respective missions as defined above, without further assistance of this type from the United States.
I should appreciate your assurance that the present program for the training and equipping of the security forces of that Government is consistent with the views of this Department as set forth above.
Faithfully yours,
- Not printed.↩