June 26, 1950
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation
The Secretary called Senator Wiley and said that he wanted to give him a report on the Korean situation and that he had just talked with Chairman Connally. The Secretary said that when he got word of the attack about 10 or 11 o'clock Saturday night he immediately had a meeting of the Security Council called for Sunday. At the meeting a strong resolution was gotten through calling upon North Korea to stop the attack. The Secretary said the Security Council would meet tomorrow at 3 p.m. to get a report from the Commission on North Korea.
The Secretary said that the President had met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary Johnson and himself and top advisers.
The Secretary said that when he went before the Senate Appropriations Committee this morning to discuss MDAP, he would be acting under orders of the President not to discuss Far Eastern matters since the President in the opening phase of the matter thought it important to keep control of the situation in his own hands. The Secretary said he thought the position in Korea was in pretty good shape this morning. He pointed out that the attack coming from prepared positions a short distance away made the first impact difficult to take, but now the South Koreans were in good fighting shape. The Secretary said that he hoped that within a very short time he would be able to come before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, or have the President consult with them, on the basis of a careful analysis of the whole situation.
Senator Wiley made no comment. He asked first what MacArthur was doing. The Secretary told him that MacArthur was in charge of sending them assistance and that it was MacArthur's judgment that the President was relying on.
Senator Wiley asked whether there was any evidence that the Russians were actually participating. The Secretary said that there was no evidence as far as he knew that anyone except North Korean forces were being used, although, of course, there was a strong suspicion that it had been stimulated by the Russians. Senator Wiley asked if there was any evidence of air attack. The Secretary said that there have been Koreans flying Russian planes and there have been some attacks on the capitol. Senator Wiley then asked whether the policy of the State Department would be to continue to send aid of some kind and asked if he were correct that we would not send in any forces at present. The Secretary said all of that is now before the President, but that no forces had been sent in yet.
L.D.B.
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