March 11, 1975
Telegram from Pyongyang to Bucharest, No. 059.076
This document was made possible with support from Leon Levy Foundation
TELEGRAM
Sender: Pyongyang
No.: 059.076
Date: 11.03.1975
Time: 08:00
To: Comrade I. Ciubotaru,
Following the transfer of new US military units from Southeast Asia to South Korea and the introduction of significant quantities of nuclear arms, the spokesperson of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Foreign Ministry issued a statement on March 10th warning about the danger of an armed conflict in the Korean Peninsula and deeming the US as responsible for the serious results of this situation. The comments of the diplomatic community in Pyongyang concerning this situation often indicate that the US, while losing ground in Southeast Asia, do not wish to worsen their position in the Korean Peninsula; that the intensification of US activities in South Korea is due to the increased confrontations between the USSR and the People’s Republic China, on the one hand, and Japan and the US on the other; that the increase of US troops in Seoul is made at the request of South Korean authorities and of their complete lack of resistance. There is also mention that these developments are due to preparations for war of the North Korean side, to declarations of Pyongyang officials to the effect that the next war or South Korean revolution must be used towards reunification.
The continued tension of internal situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the declarations of most authorized Korean personalities concerning “the approach of the great revolutionary event,” are strong pretexts for South Korea and its allies to balance the ability for confrontation.
Signed: Dumitru Popa
Popa observes an increase of US military presence in South Korea, including the transfer of nuclear weapons and notes that many see this move as Washington's way of coping with the Sino-Soviet split and increased division between Japan and the US.
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