I - f March 20 1 1957 I Dear Cabot As you know we have been seeking ways in which we could meet the serious situation created by persistent Communist violations of the Armistice agreement in Korea The specific provisions of the Armistice J greement Paragraph 13d l-Tith respect to the introduction and replacement of iveapons have to be taken into account in this connection So far the Depar ent has been able to agree to the replacement of certain types of weapons in Korea with t eir current modern counterparts on the grounds that a fair interpretation of the Arr rl stice Agreement would not require us to manufacture obsolete parts and equipment and that evidence of Communist violations of these rovisions legally entitled us to this remedy HO rever the i e fense Department has not as yet taken such action because it is also seeking agreement on its proposal to introduce certain types of dual capability nuclear weapons into Korea The Department has not agreed to this proposal because of its farreaching implications not only for the Armistice Agreement but also for our relations with our allies in ti1e i mC and our general position both in the Ur and tile Far East Late in January the 1 ational Security Council instructed its Planning aoard to revise the over-all policy paper on Korea to include the effe- t and consequences of introducing dual capability weapons The Deoartment of State has been virtually isolated in its position that nuclear weaoons should be introduced into Korea only after taking full account of its effect upon our position in the UN and in the Far East of the implications for the Armistice Agreement and pan demonstrated evidence of comparable Communist violations We did not believe that we coulc afford to ignore the explicit provisions of the Armistice Agreement unless we were prepared _publicly to defend our action and to acce t its other celnsequences Both Defense and Treasury strongly supported by the Bureau of the Budget have pressed strongly for a prompt favoraule decision on the ground that early introduction of nuclear 1eapons wLl enable us to make substantial economies in our financial con itments in Korea The Plamune The Honorable Henry Cabot Lodge United States Representative to the United Nations TWo Park Avenue New York 16 New York 'TO T The Planning Board has now completed its work The resulting paper includes as the position of the State Department certain stipulations and safeguards with reapect to the introduction or' uetear weapons to all of which tne representatives of the other departments on the Planning doard take exception This means that the matter will be presented to the National Security Council with several key provisions bracketed as representing solely the position of the Department of State Other agencies contend that we place undue importance upon the effect such a step would have upon our position in tue United Nations upon our allies and upon the legal obligations of the armistice when the paper is presented to the NSC we plan to provide the Secretary with a comprehenSive statement of the reasons why we believe it essential to determine the timing of the introduction of nuclear weapons in the light of various conditions particularly the development of evidence of Communist viola- tions omparable in nature and extent The NSC meeting is scheduled for npril In these circumstances it would be helpful for us to nave the Mission's appraisal of this problem in terms of its effect upon our position in the United Nations For example we would like your best judgment as to the effect of such a departure from the Armistice Agree- ment assuming no conditions whatsoever are imposed upon our ability to maintain our present position on Korean unification We would also like to know your views on the effect of such action upon other armistice agreements in the Fiddle East and the Kashmir cease-fire I would appreciate receiving your views as soon as possible so that they may be reflected in the briefing memorandum our Bureau will be preparing for the Secretary's use at the April NSC meeting Hith kind personal regards am Cordially yours Francis O Wilcox DECLA SSIFIED This document is from the holdings of The National Security Archive Suite 701 Gelman Library The George Washington University 2130 H Street NW Washington D C 20037 Phone 202 994-7000 Fax 202 994-7005 nsarchiv@gwu edu