THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 24 JANUARY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974240
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: January 24, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A005800040001-9
The President's Daily Brief
-71-0-p-9ef-get. 24 January 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
24 JANUARY 1968
1. North Korea
2. Denmark
The US got nowhere at Panmunjom
today. Pyongyang radio quotes the
North Korean representative there as
saying that "the latest is the most
vicious provocation since the armis-
tice--an extremely sinister and overt
provocative machination of the US im-
perialist aggressors." United Press
International quotes the North Korean
as saying "the ship will remain in our
hands."
The biggest losers in yesterday's
elections were Prime Minister Krag's
Social Democrats and the parties on the
left. The most spectacular gains were
made by the Radical Liberals--a party
with pacifist inclinations--who more
than doubled their representation by
winning 28 seats in the 179-member par-
liament. This small party now holds
the balance of power; it will probably
join with the larger Conservative and
Moderate Liberal parties to forT a ma-
jority government.
* * *
The Danes are sending their own
scientific investigation team and a
number of newspaper men to Thule this
morning.
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3. Sino-Soviet
4. Soviet Union
5. Soviet Union
6. Dominican
Republic
Recent satellite photography shows
that a large number of Chinese Army bar-
racks and support facilities have been
built at a site in Sinkiang near the So-
viet border during the past year. This
is the first evidence of any Chinese
move in response to the build-up of So-
viet forces across the border.
Ambassador Dobrynin told Ambassa-
dor Thompson last week that he expects
a top-level decision within a month or
six weeks on both the US-Soviet consu-
lar convention and on a new cultural ex-
change agreement. On the former, Dobrynin
said there was no question of principle
involved "but only one of finding appro-
priate time."
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Leaders of the Marxist-Leninist Do-
minican Popular Movement told their mem-
bers last week that the party has
adopted a line on violence similar to
that of the Guatemalan revolutionaries.
The spokesmen stressed that the move-
ment must strike back against 'i'repres-
sion," and made clear that US citizens
would be among its targets.
So far, there are no signs of an
actual campaign of violence by either
the right or the left, but the politi-
cal atmosphere is increasingly tense.
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7. Thailand
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The military oligarchy has taken
a small but important step toward con-
stitutional government. Municipal and
provincial elections were held recently?,
the first since the constitution was
annulled ten years ago.
Although a restriction on discuss-
ing political issues reduced the elec-
tions largely to popularity contests,
campaigning was often energetic and
voter turnout was quite high. Governmen-
tal interference was minimal.
The regime now seems to realize
that constitutional government cannot
be put off indefinitely.
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Top Secret
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Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
Top Secret
1B
24 January 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
24 January 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
* * *
More on the Phoenix: The Quaker yacht Phoenix
is scheduled to make its second visit to North Viet-
nam during the forthcoming Tet truce period. Accord-
ing to press accounts and reports from the consulate
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general in Hong Kong, six Americans and one British
citizen will sail the yacht from Hong Kong on the
23rd of January, with expectations of arriving at
Haiphong by noon on the 29th. The yacht is reported-
ly carrying $2,500 in drugs for the Red Cross of the
Liberation Front and $5,000 in surgical supplies for
the North Vietnamese Red Cross, all of which the
Quakers have stipulated must be used for treating
civilian victims of the war. During a press confer-
ence before embarking, Lawrence Scott, the leader
of the group, stated that Hanoi had granted permis-
sion for the yacht to visit Haiphong during the Tet
truce period. Permission to supervise the distribu-
tion of the donations or to travel to Hanoi was not
granted, however.
In connection with the voyage of the Phoenix,
Hanoi appears to be sticking to its current prohibi-
tion of foreign newsmen. John Porterfield, an Ameri-
can correspondent who had planned to sail with the
Phoenix crew, was refused permission to make the
voyage by the North Vietnamese authorities.
* * *
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* * *
II. .NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Nothing of significance to report.
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Top Secret
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