Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, Korea and China, Volume VII, Part 1

Department of Defense Files: Telegram

The Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (Ridgway)

top secret
flash

Washington, July 10, 1951—5:24 p. m.

JCS 95977. From JCS for CINCUNC.

1. Folg instructions, which are a compilation and condensation with minor modification, of existing directives, constitute your authority as CINCUNC for conduct of mil operations in Korea. All previous directives or portions of directives in conflict herewith are rescinded.¹

2. UN Security Council in its resolution of 7 Jul 50 recommended that all mbrs providing mil forces and other assistance to ROK, pursuant to Security Council resolutions of 25 and 27 Jun 50, make such forces and other assistance available to a unified command under the United States.

3. In accordance therewith you have been designated as the cdr of those mil forces. Your title in this capacity will be CINCUNC.

4. In accordance with appropriate UN resolutions, the over-all mission of UN Mil Forces is to assist ROK in repelling the aggression against ROK and to restore international peace and security in Korea.

(Mission)

5. As CINCUNC you will, consistent with the security of forces under your command, inflict the maximum personnel and matériel losses on the forces of North Korea and Communist China operating within the geographic boundaries of Korea and waters adjacent thereto. The policy objective of your mil mission is to create conditions favorable to a settlement of the Korean conflict which would, as a minimum:

(a). Terminate hostilities under appropriate armistice arrangements;

(b). Establish the authority of ROK over all Korea south of a northern boundary so located as to facilitate, to the maximum extent possible, both administration and military defense, and in no case south of the 38th parallel;

(c). Provide for the withdrawal by appropriate stages of non-Korean armed forces from Korea;

(d). Permit the building of sufficient ROK mil power to deter or repel a renewed North Korean aggression.

(Operations)

6. In pursuit of your mission in Korea, you are authd to conduct air and naval operations within geographic boundaries of Korea and waters adjacent thereto as deemed by you to be necessary or advantageous to successful attainment of your mission. This specifically does not include auth to conduct air and naval action against Manchuria or other Chinese territory, against USSR territory, or against hydroelectric installations on Yalu River, except with approval of JCS, and as a matter of policy no air operations or naval surface operations will be conducted within 12 miles of USSR territory on the Asiatic Mainland.

7. With regard to ground operations you are authorized to conduct such tactical operations as may be necessary or desirable to support your mission, to insure the safety of your command, and to continue to harass the enemy. This includes authority to conduct guerrilla operations and limited amphibious and airborne operations in enemy rear areas.

[Here follows the remainder of the telegram corresponding to the text of telegram JCS 92831, May 31, Part II, page 489, except that paragraph 28 of telegram JCS 95977 indicated that the views of the Joint Chiefs of Staff with respect to an armistice were contained in telegrams JCS 95354 (page 598), JCS 95438 (page 611), and JCS 95843 (printed in footnote 2, page 600).

[The rest of the directive to General Ridgway was transmitted in telegram JCS 95978, July 10, to Tokyo, which corresponded to Part I of telegram JCS 92831, May 31, page 487.]

1. During June the Joint Chiefs of Staff had reviewed the draft directives sent to CINCFE in JCS 92831, p. 487, in light of the tactical situation in Korea and had submitted revised directives to the Secretary of Defense on June 27.

   Secretary of State Acheson, in a letter to the Secretary of Defense dated July 6, suggested some additional changes, all but two of which were acceptable to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Joint Chiefs of Staff objected to the deletion of the word “surface” in the second sentence of paragraph 6 and in paragraph 10, and, for reasons of communications security, to the addition of a paragraph in the section on operations restrictions with regard to action to be taken in the event of a massive enemy air attack.

   On July 10, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff obtained the concurrence of the Secretaries of State and Defense in the final draft, after which he took it to the President, who approved it. (JCS Files)