Memo KJ7 (extract), TOKYO, 16 February 1948
COMMUNICATIONS AND SUPPLY OF INFORMATION ON KOREAN SITUATION Korea is under strict censorship which is likely to extend to all types of communications. I discovered this on arrival at Seoul and decided to communicate only through the British Consul General by British special code or by King’s Messenger, sending my material to Tokyo and having it relayed to Canberra by Australian Mission. As I have no dollars, I asked the British Consul General to arrange with British Consulate in Tokyo to charge the cost of my signals to Australian Mission in Japan.
2. The British Consul General, Korea, has had only one assistant on his staff besides his wife who acts as his cipher officer and secretary. They are heavily overworked and could only take a minimum from me.
3. I could not find any other safe-hand messengers whom I could trust.
4. The secretariat accompanying the mission has six typists. Two of these have been ill for a month and, in consequence, the others have worked literally night and day and every day on secretariat work alone. They have not been available to assist delegates even in the smallest way.
5. The mail channel which the American authorities have placed at our disposal for ordinary purposes is unreliable. One formal letter of acknowledgment which I sent to Mr. Shaw on 12th January has not reached him.
6. As a matter of interest, I mention that private mail, both inwards and outwards, is unpredictable. Since my arrival in Korea I have received two of about a dozen letters of which I have not been advised. Apart from the local Stars and Stripes no newspapers of any kind have reached members of the mission.
7. In order to inform you fully on the Korean situation, I have taken advantage of the lull caused by the chairman’s departure to come over to Tokyo and prepare and send an immediate cable on the situation, together with a comprehensive report.
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[AA : A1838, 852/20/4, II]