Tokyo, December 14 1959

TO: Ambassador Tai Ha Yiu
FROM: Counselor Pil Shik Chin
Second Secretary William H.Gleysteen of the US Embassy came to see me this afternoon to talk on the Korea-Japan negotiations, and talked for about an hour. First Secretary Kibong Han was also present at the meeting.
First, he was greatly concerned about the reports concerning a top-level meetiong by our government officials, including military service chiefs, asking me if we had any report in this regard from Seoul. As there was none, I told him that this office received nothing on the matter officially.
He then told us that he and Ambassador MacArthur, since their meeting with Amb. Yiu Monday last. week, have bteen spending considerable length of tine almost every day in close touch with the Japanese Foreign Office in the expectation that the joint communique would be announced, as scheduled. He was, of course, familiar with the difficulties which he said lied with both sides. Hoping that a series of recent developments, as indicated in various press reports, would not seriously affect the future of the negotiations now pending between Japan and our country, he asked what the present status of the negotiations was.
I informed him as he was apparently not very familiar with detailed points, that although there was not much disagreement in regard to the text of the joint communique, the Japanese side failed to come out quite satisfactorily in respect of the contents of the Agreed Minutes. I explained to him that wording employed in the Agreed Minutes was not acceptable to us and the Japanese suggested a formula that another agreed minutes which would be those of the Committee on the Korean residents, be prepared to supplement the original Agreed Minutes. This suggestion of the Japanese side has been reported to the Government, I continued.
Gleysteen stressed the importance of reaching agreement with the Japanese side, especially, because both sides nearly reached one, repeating his hopes that both sides will be able to iron out the final details to mutual satisfaction. He said he believed it was still possible, if we permit no further delay. He has been receiving information concerning meetings between Vice Minster Choi and Charge d'Affaires Gilstrap from the US Embassy in Seoul. I said that if the Japanese had been a little more sincere in regard to the property to be taken by repatriating Korean residents and also to the amount of the compensation, the situation would have been better.
Regarding the latest proposal by ourside concerning the International Court of Justice's arbitration of the deportation issue, he asked if we had any plan in mind in case the Japanese chose to reject it I told him that our objection to the Japanese deportation scheme is extremely strong and we intend to exhaust every means, when there are still any chances. I said, we certainly would wish the Japanese to agree to our proposal by immediately withholding the implementation of the deportation. I stressed that we wanted the Court arbitration on the issue, especially on the point that Japan violated the terms of the Agreed minutes signed at the end of 1957. Gleysteen felt that, if the proposal had been made at the early stage of the problem, for instance in February or so, Japan might nave accepted it, provided our side agree to bring other issues pending with Japan before the court. He personally did not think it possible for Japan to do anything to stop the "repatriation", especially at this stage.