1 MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD March 29 1957 I Subject State-Defense Meeting on ROK Armaments A meeting was held at 2 00 p m March 28 1957 in the office of the Secretary of Defense for the purpose of examining the evidence bearing upon the build-up of military strength in North Korea in contravention of the istice Agreement Present for Defense Secretary Wilson Deputy Sec etary Robertson Admiral Redford General Counsel Becker and several KN ers for State Secretary Dulles Mr Phleger Mr Bowie and Mr The presentation opened with a review of the policy disagreement between State and Defense over the question of delivering weapons to the ROK so as to modernize the forces in South Korea and narrow the widening gap between mili- tary capabilities in the North and South The presentation was made by Captain N C Mott USN Captain then took up photographic evidence purporting to show the condition of North Korean airfields at or shortly be- fore July 27 1953 when the Armistice Agreement went into effect Comparison photography of a few months to several years later was then presented to 33 indicate the rapidity and completeness of the repair or rebuilding of the North Korean airfields and evidence of the introduction of aircraft upon these airfields in varying numbers at different times Some of the photography was stated to be useable in public tbut the majority was indicated as not releaseable and somelwas described as of great sensitivity The photographic slides were explained by a photographic interpreter Captain Mott then turned to evidence derived from radar indicating the presence of aircraft over North Korea beginning shortly after the Armistice Agreement was effective and after UN aircraft were no longer flying above the cease-fire line This evidence was described as illustrative and related specifically only to one week in 1954 At this point the Captain used a showing the estimated present_strength of the NKAF totalling 625 aircraft Lthe data on the chart is attached He pointed out that there had been a number of incriminating admissions by various North Korean officials and military officers which could be used as evidence in any proceeding that might be A determined upon A chart was next presented comparing the manpower of the North Korean and Chinese Communist armies in North Korea in 1953 and 1957 This was Jx accompanied by a comparison of selected heavy weapons agtillery and tanks for the same years Lthe data from that chart is attachegL In discussing the validity of the intelligence on which these latter data were based Captain Mott said that only a relatively small part of the intelligence could be de- classified for public use such as that obtained from deserters and defectors ut that the greater part of it was based on classified material some of the 3 highest classification DECL SSIFIE Ahthority on Qt of 1 Series -- - 7 7 3 g Lbij iiLN il 0 5 Upon conclusion of the presentation by Captain Mott a general discussion ensued concerning the various courses of action open to the United States their implications in terms of domestic and foreign policy and the nature and validity of the evidence The discussion was inconclusive and it was left that the matter would be taken up by the National Security Council at its next meeting Charts Attached as stated 3-28-57 - Mr Bowie L Mr Phleger FE Mr Sebald s S Mr yowe - 1161 COpy toDECL- has a a 29132 ESTIMATED STRENGTH OF THE NORTH KOREAN AIR FORCE Jet fighters 310 Jet ground attack Fagots 70 Jet light bombers Beagles 75 Piston ground attack Piston light bombers Transports Miscellaneous TABLEI 3-28-57 15 30 i we Ahthori I COMMUNIST FORCES IE NORTH KOREA 1953 North Korean 281 000 18 inf divs CCA 872 000 57 1nf d1vs 1957 350 000 18 inf divs I 69 291 000 15 inf divs - 581 COMIARISOR 9E COMMUNIST KOREA 1953 995 122mm 286 How or larger 120mm 602 Mort Tanks 122 TABLE II 3-28-57 252 564 281 NKA 1 538 367 774 1 166 153 1 026 403 354 300 1957 Total cc NRA - I Total 1 141 1 179 654 V 603% 13% 251 DECL- SSIFIE Ahthority 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