I was determined to investigate the matter fullynot only because I could not. in good conscience. remain silent if Koreans were being forcibly returned to North Korea. but because my genuine affection for the South Korean Government automatically prompts me to defend their cause in these perilous times. This is a matter in which two very stanch allies of the United States are involved and one. therefore. which must be considered with strict impartiality and without emotion. The State Department has assured me that any repatriation that is undertaken under this agreement will be on a strictly voluntary basis. that there will be no enforced deportation of Korean nationals to either North or South Korea. as a matter of fact. they have assured me that the Japanese Government is perfectly willing to allow those Koreans who wish to remain in Japan to do so. The North Korean Communist government. naturally. is conducting a campaign. backed by Peiping and Moscow. to encourage Koreans resident in Japan to return to North Korea. However. since the International Committee of the Red Cross has agreed to see to it that those returning are returning by free choice. it is my hope that the pressures and propaganda of the North Korean Communists will not be successful in sabotaging this repatriation program. The Japanese Government. one of the stanchest outposts of freedom in the Pacific. has given its assurances that free choice will be insisted upon in this programthat there will be no enforced deportation of unwilling Korean nationals. The International Committee of the Red Cross has agreed to oversee this operation and apprise those Koreans involved of their rights of free choice under the agreement. But we must never underestimate the tactics of the Communists.
Keywords matched
deportation