ABSTRACT
The Russian command charged that the Americans were taking a stand contradictory to the Moscow agreement pertaining to Korea. Secretary George C. Marshall wrote Molotov on April 8, reviewing the Korean situation and requesting that the Joint Commission be reconvened “as soon as possible” and that it be charged with “expediting its work under the terms of the Moscow Agreement on a basis of respect for the democratic rights of freedom of opinion.” In the preliminary negotiations each side had modified its stand somewhat, the Americans giving way to the Russian insistence that Koreans who actively opposed the Moscow decision should not be consulted, even though such a restriction might be interpreted as a limitation upon “freedom of opinion.” Secretary Robert A. Lovett, furthermore, set forth a substitute for the Moscow plan, the chief feature of which was the holding of elections in Korea under the guidance of the United Nations for the formation of a provisional legislature and government.
