CONFERENCE ON KOREA

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27211, 1 December 1953, Page 11

CONFERENCE ON KOREA

New Delhi Likely As Site (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 11 p.m.) SEOUL, November 30. The. Communists, today proposed that the Korean Peace conference should be held at New Delhi starting on December 28, but again insisted that the Soviet Union be invited as a neutral, and not as a full participant on the Communist side as the United Nations has demanded. The Communists also repeated their demand that four Asian neutrals attend the conference—lndia, Pakistan. Burma, and Indonesia. The chief United Nations delegate, Mr Arthur Dean, said today that he would insist that Russia attend the Korean peace talks as a full participant not as a neutral, but he added that New Delhi was acceptable as the conference site.

Although the Communists remained opposed to the United Nations viewpoint on Russia, they accepted two United Nations points—that neutrals should not vote and that the conference should be held elsewhere than Panmunjon. Except on the question of Russian participation the Allied and Communist plans now seem to be coming together. In tne preliminary negotiations, Mr Dean had maintained that Russia had supported the Communists in the Korean war and therefore could not be regarued as a neutral. The Commuinsts released their counter-proposals during a plenary session today. As the conference agenda, the Communists proposed:— (1) A discussion on war prisoners. (2) The question of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea. (3) The peaceful settlement of the Korean question. (4) Other related questions. The Communists said that the two sides should attend on an equal footing and share the c - jsts equally. All decisions must be unanimous. Neutrals would be members of the conference but would not join in the voting and the official languages should be Korean, Chinese, and English. Proposal on Neutrals The Communists also proposed that neutrals should be invited in order to promote and ensure the smooth proceeding of the conference. The neutrals should take part in all discussions without restriction, so as to facilitate the attainment of agreement, and the neutrals should sit on anv subordinate groups of the conference. The Communists said that after agreement had been reached at Panmunjon the two sides should send a joint secretariat to New Delhi to make the arrangements. The press must not attend conference meetings, communiques must be jointly approved, and the two sides must have the right to approve a certain number of pressmen to cover the report on the conference.

In a statement with the proposal, the North Korean delegate. Mr Ki Sok Bok, blamed the United States dele-

gates for delay in reaching agreement about the conference arrangements, and claimed that the assertion that Russia should participate as a belligerent was absurd. Mr Ki Sok Bok alleged that the United Nations side was delaying the talks beyond the due date for the completion of explanations to war prisoners to realise a scheme fcr forcibly retaining more than 20,000 captured men. Mr Dean told the press afterwards that he had asked for a recess in the talks until December 2, and that the Communists had agreed. The United Nations might agree to the Russians’ participation as a full voting member, although not seated on the side of China and North Korea, said Mr Dean. The Communist proposal was a joke so far as participation was concerned, he said. The Communists had just dressed up the old proposal with some glittering tinsel.