Ni Zhiliang[1] (Comrade I J to Comrade Kim Il Sung):

(1) In light of the present situation, we have decided to dispatch the Volunteer Army to Korea to assist you in opposing the aggressors;

(2) Comrade Peng Dehuai is appointed Commander and Political Commissar of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army;

(3) The rear-service operations of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and other work within Manchuria[2] related to aiding Korea shall be the responsibility of Comrade Gao Gang, Commander and Political Commissar of the Northeast Military Region;

(4) Please immediately dispatch Comrade Pak Il-u[3] to Shenyang to confer with Comrades Peng Dehuai and Gao Gang on various issues concerning the entry of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army into Korea for combat operations. (Comrades Peng and Gao are departing Beijing for Shenyang today.)

Mao Zedong
October 8

[1] Ni Zhiliang, then serving as China's Ambassador to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
[2] Manchuria, here referring to the three northeastern provinces of China: Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang.
[3] Pak Il-u, then serving as a Standing Committee member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Korean government.