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September 22, 1956

Telegram from A. Mikoyan to the CPSU Central Committee

[handwritten:

Top Secret

Priority]

 

[to the] CPSU CC

 

Today, 22 September, a meeting was held commission concerning the draft resolution of the plenum with a commission of the Korean Worker's Party CC presidium. [We] met in a small group in accordance with Cde. Kim Il Sung's request. On the Korean side were commission members Cdes. Kim Il Sung, Kim Du-bong, Choe Yong-geon, Kim Chang-man, and Nam Il, who translated into Russian, and there were Cdes. Peng Dehuai together with Shi Zhe, myself, and Ambassador Ivanov.

 

Cde. Kim Il Sung passed [us] the draft CC plenum [handwritten: decision] drawn up by them for publication, which is attached below.

 

I and Cde. Peng Dehuai said that the draft agrees with what [we] had said earlier and is basically acceptable insofar as it refers to the revocation of the organizational conclusions of the previous plenum.

 

I said that it was necessary to add provisions to the draft about the need to practice intra-Party democracy, criticism and self-criticism, and a patient attitude toward mistaken comrades. The Korean comrades agreed to add decisions about this with the appropriate provisions.

 

I also told the Korean comrades that besides this draft decision for the CC plenum it is still necessary to prepare proposals for the presidium about state or other work to which the rehabilitated comrades would be assigned. While this was being done proceed from the position that to return them to [their] previous work or to give them new work appropriate to their position or capabilities. This is first and second, and it is also necessary to revoke other decisions of the CC presidium which provided for the removal of senior officials from [their] posts for reasons of intra-Party differences. The Korean comrades agreed with this.

 

I asked Cde. Kim Du-bong whether he had been informed of our conversations in his absence and how he regarded all this. He said that he had been informed and was very satisfied and grateful that the delegations had come from the fraternal Parties and had given great help with their valuable advice, and that he was pleased that the KWP CC presidium had agreed with our advice, and added that evidently [the following] had been coordinated with Cde. Kim Il Sung: little time remained for preparing the CC members for the plenum, and therefore the plenum ought not to open today, but tomorrow, in order to have an opportunity to be able to inform CC members about the decisions being planned. Cde. Kim Il Sung added that yesterday CC Presidium members had individual conversations with the CC members located in Pyongyang. The conversations showed that some comrades agreed with the proposals and others, knowing the people whom this concerns in a negative sense, did not agree, but yet others suggested adopting [inserted by hand: them] on the condition that the people expelled from the CC provide sharp self-criticism for their mistakes at the plenum. Cde. Kim Il Sung suggested that the plenum be postponed to tomorrow in order to be able to explain the draft decision to CC members who had arrived from the provinces. He justified this by the fact that it was desirable that the plenum be held without dissention. We naturally agreed. It was agreed to open the plenum on the morning of the 23rd. Judging from everything the plenum should be concluded the same day. If the plenum ends on time before dark we will fly to Peking tomorrow, and to Moscow from Peking on the 24th of September.

 

[handwritten: signed] A. Mikoyan

 

22 September 1956 [handwritten: Authenticated: V. Chistov

 

The first copy and the

attachment were received

on 22 September [illegible signature]

 

MFA 23 September spets N604-609

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mikoyan stresses that the Korean Workers' Party Central Committee needs to repeal the decisions reached at the August Plenum, and instead consider rehabilitating the accused party officials. The Korean Workers' Party commission agrees that a less harsh punishment would eliminate discord within the party.


Document Information

Source

GARF, Fond 5446, Opis 98c, Delo 718, Listy 9-11. Translated by Gary Goldberg.

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Original Uploaded Date

2014-06-10

Type

Memorandum

Language

Record ID

120192