FORM DS-747 B-o -6o J e - 1 TOP SICUT CONliOL NUMIU --- DEPARTMENT OF STATE TOP SECRET COVER SHEET 4 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF AnACHED DOCUMENT $ Ori ot pertinent data gm NSC-57299-1 feT J14b ICCt re mce no or Memo to S P-Smith f m WLeonhart dtd 10 l fi'57 re 11 Nuclear Storage i n Korea encl Gen Cutler's notes 2 COPY INFOJtMATION INfOIMATION COPY ACTION COPY TELHIAMS DESPATCHIS lTC COPY NO 5 FORWARDED copqs OP J DA11 AND NAMI oo PilSON PUPAtiNG POIUII ' PERSONS TO WHOM ROUTED 01 READING DOCUMENT Mr Smith 10 17 57 CJ'oOs- t 8 Dato 7 S P ' L OFFICI SYMBOL DATEUCIIVID SIGNAlUIII iloA _ L JIJ o DECLASSIFIED Authority hNflJ liOl H 1017 57 EDorning 10 11 DA11UAD DATEULIASID This do u1t e t vn TOP SECREio t 9 f Cvj ie Sef _ A POLICY PLANNING ErrAFF LIMITED DISTRIBUTION October 17 1957 HEMORANDUM FOR MR SMITH Subject Nuclear Storage in Korea 1 At General Cutler's request his notes with respect to the storage of nuclear warheads in Korea attached were shown to the Secretary last evening 2 The Secretary confirmed the substance of General Cutler 1 s recollection as set forth in the last paragraph of the attached paper but stated that he would expect to be consulted on any specific recommendation made by Defense Accordingly and State should be added at the end of the final sentence of General Cutler's notes 3 General Cutler was notified of the foregoing by me late last evening William eonhart ' Attachment As stated cc FE - Mr Robertson S S - Mr Howe S AE - Mr Farley TOP SECRET DECLASSIFIED Authority I Q 5 t N D1 2 COPY TOP SECRET October 16 1957 My briefing notes of the June 13th meeting show that the President indicated that after agreement on modernizing u s forces in Korea nuclear warheads mi ght be stored as appropriate in Korea At the Council meeting on August 8 Paragraph 9-c was adopted Equip u s forces in Korea with modern weapons provided that the timing of the deployment to Korea of dual capability nuclearoonventional weapons such as the HONEST JOHN and the 280 mm cannon and of nuclear warheads will be as and when determined by the President after conference with the Secretaries of State and Defense 11 The notes of the discussion at that meeting show that Radford commented that there was no official authority to store nuclear warheads in South Korea as yet The President then expressed surprise and said that he thought this problem had been agreed to when the NSC last discussed the Korean policy paper I remarked that the Record of Action of NSC meetings would not contain any reference to the storage of nuclear warheads as I under fio d it this matter would be handled elsewhere meaning t was not customary to make a statement of that kind in the Record of Action At the meeting between Dulles and Quarles with ref erence to the cable to Dowling and Decker it was merely stated that u s forces in Korea would be reorganized into Pentomic Divisions and the HONEST JOHN and 280 mm gun would be introduced in Korea--as a bargaining point It is my best recollection that at least by the Council meeting on August 8 it was understood by the President by the Secretary of State and by Defense that nuclear warheads might be stored in Korea as appropriate Presumably such storage would have to be spec1fic1ally authorized by the President on the recommendation of Defense Is R c TOP SECRET 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