August 30, 1957
Letter No. 88 from the President (Syngman Rhee) to Minister Duk Shin Choi
This document was made possible with support from Syngman Rhee Institute, Yonsei University
August 30, 1957
Number 88
(Dictated from Chinhae)
To: Minister Duk Shin Choi
From: The President
Thank you for your Weekly Report Number 053 dated Aug. 22 and for the enclosures received with it.
I am sorry to notify you that we are not sending a representative to the Malayan independence ceremony but our government has decided to recognize the new republicFederation.
With regard to the Vietnamese President's visit, please find out informally when he plans to come. It is very difficult for me to say if the dates between September 25 and October 12 will be favorable as several people are coming but that would not interfere with our plans as they are not as high-ranking as the President.
Our office informed me that the code cable you sent on the 26th was so garbled they could not decipher it and therefore the Foreign Ministry cabled you to clarify it. I think it must have referred to the date f or the proposed visit. The informal date has been agreed upon and you should talk to the Foreign Minister about the detailed arrangements. Tell him that any announcement they wish to make will be all right with us and that we will try to do our utmost to comply with their wishes.
All these official and unofficial announcements must be clearly stated in a letter because cables are not always reliable and we should avoid misunderstanding. Please do not forget to number your cables.
It seems that the Vietnam government is also short of staff for assignment abroad as we are. I want to advise you not to press too much for an ambassador or a minister.
It seems President Diem unofficially advised the American government of his visit. From his action I can see he is trying very hard to show to his people that he is not taking orders from U.S. while on the other hand he is relying on American advise. Take for example his attitude toward Japan. If he realizes the danger of Japanese infiltration into his country why would he allow Jap
technicians to enter Vietnam. Everybody knows they are nothing but spies in disguise and also fraternize with the local people in order to make them overcome the anti-Jap feeling and clear the way for them to get into Vietnam again.
I am very glad that you had such a good August 15th celebration and wish to thank you for the pictures you sent to me.
I am enclosing a copy of my cable thanking the President for his congratulatory message which he sent for that day.
Enclosures: TIME - September 2 issue
Copy of cable
President Rhee requests clarification on the dates of President Diem's visit to South Korea and briefly discusses President Diem's reliance on U.S. advice for foreign relations.
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