THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 7 MAY 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005975734
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: May 7, 1968

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
The President's Daily Brief
1-(7p-stQc-ga
7 May 1968
23
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24: CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
50X1
THE PRESIDENT'S
DAILY BRIEF
7 MAY 1968
1, North Korea
2. South Vietnam
3. Soviet Union
A BLACK SHIELD mission yesterday
covered the southern half of North Ko-
rea; only about 50 percent of the land
area was cloud free.
The first brief look at the pic-
tures in the field shows no real change
in North Korea's military posture. No
new surface-to-air missile activity,
surface-to-surface missile activity, or
evidence of significant military move-
ment or build-up was observed.
The photographs are expected in
Washington tonight, and further work
on them will begin immediately.
Cabinet changes--possibly includ-
ing the replacement of Prime Minister
?Loc by Tran Van Huong--are said to be
imminent./
Satellite photography shows that
18 silos under construction are prob-
ably for a new solid-propellant ICBM.
The first of these silos could be com-
pleted by mid-1969
Construction continues on older
liquid-fueled ICBM systems, but we have
detected few new starts in recent months.
There are about 800 operational launch-
ers for these systems, with another 200
still building.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-Ixi
4. Egypt ?
Soviet Union
5. Syria ? There are now about 1,.200 Soviet
Soviet Union military advisers in Syria,
6. Kenya
50X1
50X1
50X6
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Top Secret
FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
Top Secret
7 May 1968
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-Ixi
Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
7 May 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Liberation Front Endorses Hanoi's Moves: In
keeping with their earlier caution on peace develop-
ments, Viet Con g/Liberation Front media have applauded
the North Vietnamese diplomatic initiative of 3 May,
but apparently without spelling out precisely what
the initiative involved. A Viet Cong news agency com-
mentary of 4 May, which was cited on 6 May by Hanoi's
international service in English, merely said that
Viet Cong "warmly welcomed" the North Vietnamese
statement concerning "the level, place, and time of
the formal talks." The commentary asserted that the
North Vietnamese had once again demonstrated their
"justice" and "good will" and had thus helped mobi-
lize world opinion behind the Communist cause. It
said that Hanoi's statement represented "the voice of
victors who are infinitely confident in the final
triumph of their cause," and it concluded that this
would give new confidence to the forces fighting in
the South.
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
Declassified in in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
50X1
50X1
50X1
5'70(11
..-/l//? 1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
* * *
II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Election Propaganda: Hanoi has devoted minimal
propaganda attention to the US presidential elec-
tions during the past two weeks. There have been a
few more references to the President's announcement
of his decision not to run for re-election, and Vice-
President Humphrey's declaration of candidacy is
mentioned in passing in a Nhan Dan commentary on 30
April pegged to Ambassador Goldberg's resignation.
The campaigning of the other avowed candidates
is not discussed. For example, although Hanoi cites
criticism by Senators McCarthy and Kennedy of the
administration's stand on a site for contacts with
North Vietnam, it does not mention that either sena-
tor is a candidate. Nixon and Rockefeller are not
mentioned at all.
An authoritative reference to the elections ap-
pears in an interview granted by Politburo member
Truong Chinh to Cuba's Prensa Latina and is carried
by the Vietnam news agency in English on 30 April.
Chinh says that the antiwar and civil rights move-
ments in the United States, "in harmony with the
Vietnamese people's resistance struggle," will be
able to "compel the US rulers to change not only
an American president, but also the entire policy
of aggression and enslavement being pursued now by
the United States."
Declassified in in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3
50X1
50X1
50X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A066100060001-3
Top Secret
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2015/07/24 : CIA-RDP79T00936A006100060001-3