Telegram from Pyongyang to Bucharest, SECRET, No. 61.530

01/014916/29.4.1973

To Direction I Relations, to Comrade Director Ion Ciubotaru

To Direction II Relations Comrade Director L. Petrescu

1. In a conversation with A. Lazar concerning recent declarations made at the U.N. by South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Yong-sik , concerning the intentions of South Korea to intensify efforts towards normalization of relations with the U.S.S.R. and P.R. China, counselor V. Denisov stated that no official relations are foreseeable for the near future between his country and Seoul. He pointed out that the U.S.S.R. representative to the U.N, Dobrynin, had a meeting with the South Korean foreign minister, with the occasion of which he explained that the U.S.S.R. will not meet South Korean wishes, the economic domain included. He noted however that the meeting, regardless of the results, constituted a political contact nevertheless.

2. In support of Kim Yong-sik’s declaration, radio broadcasts in South Korea report that Henry Kissinger told the Chinese leadership on the occasion of his visit to Beijing that the Seoul authorities would like to establish contacts and normalize relations with the People’s Republic of China.

Chinese diplomats in Pyongyang reject the possibility of having Seoul’s message relayed to Beijing, but [sic!] they reject all possibilities to establish a Sino-South Korean link, irrespective of its nature.

Signed: Aurelian Lazar