UNITED STATES DELEGATION TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
October 31, 1952
PARTICIPANTS: Secretary Acheson Foreign Minister of Canada, Mr. Lester B. Pearson
Mr. Pearson told me that he had had some talks with the Indian Delegate Menon, Padilla Nervo, and one or two other delegates, who were casting around for some sort of a proposal for handling prisoner of war matters which might set up some principle which would be generally acceptable, but which would trust to the administration of a neutral group, who would talk with the prisoners, attempting to get those who would go back to do so and who would also in some way discuss this with the communist governments. The whole matter was somewhat nebulous.
I urged him not to get entangled in these discussions without at least having full and frank talks with us and some others who looked at the matter our way because the ideas which he mentioned were fraught with grave dangers. I pointed out the seriousness of having vague and unclear provisions on this point. In the first place these would not be acceptable in either his country or my own, and would immediately have to be clarified. In the second place, provisions which might lead to charges of bad faith in the carrying out of the armistice provisions could lead to renewed hostilities in Korea, would expose the forces in Korea to the gravest dangers, and might raise serious possibilities of renewed hostilities on an enlarged scale.
I told him that his interest in these proposals really bothered me a great deal and implored him to keep in very close touch with me. He said that he would do this and that he did not propose to carry the matter further until and unless the debate as it proceeded warranted this action. I think this is a dangerous situation which we should watch very closely.
Dean Acheson
S:D.Acheson:be