THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 15 JUNE 1972

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1969-1977
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005993355
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: August 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2016
• Publication Date: June 15, 1972

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The President's Daily Brief
15 June 1972
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VIETNAM
Enemy attacks are on the increase in the Mekong
Delta, with the heaviest fighting in Kien Tuong and
Kien Phong provinces. Casualties are high on both
?sides after three days of battle around the town of
Tuyen Binh in Kien Tuong Province. Government
forces are improving their positions at An Loc, hav-
ing cleared the enemy from much of the town and re-
occupied the ,city's airstrip. The effort to open
Route 13 south of An Loc remains stalled, however.
A fresh nuance on the conduct of the war ap-
peared in Hanoi's daily newspaper on 1 June. The
article called for a reorganization of society that
would enable North Vietnam to wage a protracted war
and insisted that victory did not require all the
heavy equipment and material that the US has at its
disposal. There was no direct reference to Soviet
or Chinese aid, but boastful claims about the coun-
try's ability to survive on its own implicitly min-
imize Moscow's and Peking's contributions to the
war effort. Alluding to an assessment of the, "new
situation," the article gave the impression that
the North Vietnamese leaders have only recently de-
cided on the precise political line it articulated.
(continued)
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KOREA
In a conversation. with Ambassador Habib on
Monday, South Korean President Pak Chong-hui regis-
tered reservations about the course of the secret
dialogue now under way with Pyongyang.. He made it
clear that he does not think the private negotia-
tions should go forward without tangible progress?
on practical issues in the more open Red Cross
talks. He has declined North Korean requests"
pressed hard. during North Korean Vice Premier Pak
Song-chol's recent visit to Seoul--for the start
of political negotiations and an early public reve-
lation of the talks, and he has put off consider-
ing any personal meeting with North Korean Premier
Kim Il-sung..
During Pak Song-chol's visit, however, some
progress was made in advancing the three-point pol-
icy Kim had outlined during his discussions in
Pyongyang with South Korean CIA Director Yi Hu-rak
early last month. The two sides agreed on the
first two points--no collusion with foreign powers
and no armed provocation--but were unable to iron
out their wide divergence of views on the timing
and modalities of moving toward national unity.
The two negotiators agreed to establish a coordi-
nating committee to continue contacts, but Presi-
dent Pak believes this committee should be made up
of lower level representatives and should deal only
with the Red Cross talks, and possibly with misun-
derstandings arising from incidents along the DMZ.
He has ruled out any additional travel by Yi, at
least in the near future.
Pak's remarks to Ambassador Habib reflect
his own personal concern, as well as the
reservations of some of his colleagues
about North Korean intentions. He appears
particularly suspicious that the North
Koreans may try to use the dialogue to
divide the South Korean "national con-
sensus" rather than to solve differences.
Perhaps expressing more a judgment than
a fear, Pak also said that the North
Koreans' recent show of apparent reason-
ableness was intended to mislead the US
public into demanding an early withdrawal
of US forces from Korea and an end to
the military modernization program. In
fact, North Korea's Premier Kim Il-sung
and Vice Premier Pak Song-chol have both
publicly expressed such ideas.
(continued)
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Pyongyang has been voicing in public a much
more flexible line on dealing with the South
than it has put forward so farmn private.
The North has suggested publicly that if
US troops were removed, Pyongyang would
permit progress at the Red Cross talks be-
fore a political diaZogue was begun./
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NOTE
USSR: Although one of the aircraft accompany-
ing President Podgorny went on to Hanoi yesterday,
Podgorny himself remained overnight in Calcutta for?
talks with the Indian foreign minister. (Mrs.
Gandhi left India on a long-planned European jaunt
on 14 June.) Podgorny arrived in Hanoi this morning.
According to a broadcast from New Delhi, he gave the
Indians a full account of his recent talks with Pres-
ident Nixon, and also discussed the situations in the
Middle East and in Vietnam. Podgorny may also have
used the opportunity to underscore the importance
the USSR attaches to the forthcoming Indo-Pakistani
peace talks.
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THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF
15 June 1972
PRINCIPAL DEVELOPMENTS
While the Communists seemed to be opening a new bat-
tlefront in the Mekong Delta, Hanoi's press has
raised the prospect of an indefinite extension of
the war./
\ (Page 1)
South Korean President Pak seems to have braked the
secret talks with the North Koreans. (Page 3)
Soviet President Podgorny arrived in Hanoi this
morning. (Page 5)
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Demilitarized Zone
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MR 2
Gulf of
Thailand
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Capital Special Zone
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China
Sea
SOUTH VIETNAM
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