Office of the Historian

255. Telegram From Minister of Foreign Affairs Dong to the President of the United Nations Security Council (Sobolev)1

Hanoi, March 13, 1957.

Further to my letter of 25 January 1957,2 on behalf of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Viet-Nam, I protest to the Security Council against the resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 28 February 1957 recommending to the Security Council that South Viet-Nam should be admitted to membership in the United Nations. This recommendation, which was made at the proposal of the United States and certain other countries, constitutes a violation of the Geneva agreements consecrating the principle of the unity of Viet-Nam. Since Viet-Nam is an indivisible whole, South Viet-Nam cannot be considered as a separate State nor be admitted as such to the United Nations. Moreover, the recommendation is contrary to the resolution adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth session to the effect that the admission of temporarily divided countries should not be considered. I call upon the Security Council to reject the recommendation of the General Assembly and to refuse the admission of South Viet-Nam to the United Nations.

Pham Van Dong
  1. Source: USUN Files, Membership File. A notation on the source text indicates that it is a copy of the translation of the original telegram, which was in French. Presumably translated by officers of the Mission at the United Nations. No copy of the original telegram has been found.↩
  2. Not found.↩