Date

Jan 15, 1958

Description

With State Department approval, in December 1957 the Defense Department authorized the Army to begin deploying Honest John and 280 mm artillery (see also Document 22). In response to a request from Assistant Secretary of State Robertson for information on the timing of the deployments. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs John Irwin informed him that the Honest John missiles and nuclear artillery would be deployed in South Korea by 31 January. A week later, Mansfield Sprague informed Robertson that plans to deploy Matador missiles in South Korea were underway.

Source

Document 570, U.S. Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958-1960, Volumes XVII/XVIII Indonesia; Japan; Korea Microfiche Supplement (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1994)

Document published in following posting(s):

The First Nukes on the Korean Peninsula

Nov 20, 2019

Memorandum for Assistant Secretary of Defense (IS) drafted by H. J. Sandri, Far Eastern Desk, International Security Affairs, "Introduction of Honest John and 280 mm Gun BNS into Korea," 15 January 1958, with letter from Irwin to Robertson, 16 January 1958 attached, Top Secret, excised copy