Telegram from New York to Bucharest, SECRET, No. 052312

01/014867/28.4.1973

Concerning the U.N. debate around the Korean issue:

1. Soviet officials from the U.N. secretariat note that the consensus is the result of an understanding between Kissinger and Zhou Enlai, and that it underlines an arrangement which reflects the special attention given by the Chinese government to avoid political confrontation with the U.S.

2. According to the opinion of some U.S. press correspondents accredited at the U.N., Kissinger is said to have insisted in Peking for a compromise solution in the Korean matter. This insistence is said to have had at its root the explicit wish of the U.S. government to avoid, given present circumstances (the Middle East, the energy crisis, Watergate), any action at the U.N. which could affect in any way the position of U.S. troops in South Korea. The spokesperson for the U.S. mission has confirmed at a press meeting that the Korean issue was part of recent Sino-American negotiations. 

This is also being confirmed by Kissinger’s last moment decision to include South Korea in his tour.

Since the U.S. has found understanding in Peking for the issues of troop leadership and withdrawal, these correspondents consider it possible that the U.S. made concessions with respect to other issues of interest to the P.R. China and DPRK. A possible U.S. commitment to press the South Korean government so that the latter adopts a more flexible position in negotiations with DPRK is being mentioned; the possibility of a compromise arrangement on the issue of Cambodian representation in the U.N., making the object of following debates within the General Assembly, is also possible.    

Signed: Ion Datcu