(June 30, 1951)
Comrade Kim Il Sung, and Comrade Peng Dehuai[2]:
(1) Today I have sent a telegram to Comrade Filippov[3], a copy of which is hereby forwarded to you for your reference. A reply from Comrade Filippov is likely to be received tomorrow (July 1). (2) Please, in your capacity as Supreme Commander of the Korean People’s Army, prepare to issue a statement on July 2 or 3 in response to Ridgway[4].
(3) Due to the urgency of time and the importance of the conference, I have requested Comrade Filippov to communicate directly with you and closely guide this conference. Please also maintain frequent contact with Comrade Filippov and directly seek his instructions when problems arise. (4) In these negotiations, your representatives shall play the principal role, with the representatives of the Chinese Volunteer Army playing a supporting role. Therefore, please consider and prepare the various contents and methods aimed at achieving relatively favorable results in these negotiations.
(5) The date for your forthcoming talks with Comrade Peng Dehuai may be chosen for a day after the notice responding to Ridgway is issued. I am preparing to dispatch Comrade Li Kenong[5], Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of our side, and his assistants, to depart from Beijing on July 2 and arrive at Comrade Peng Dehuai’s location by July 5, to consult with you and Peng and assist in the matters of these negotiations. He is there to help you internally and will not appear publicly.
[1]
This is a telegram from Mao Zedong to Comrade Kim Il Sung, Premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
[2]
Peng Dehuai, then Commander and Political Commissar of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.
[3]
Filippov, i.e., Stalin.
[4]
Ridgway, then Commander-in-Chief of the “United Nations Command” and Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Far East Command.
[5]
Li Kenong, then Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Central People’s Government.

(6) I await your views.
Mao Zedong
June 30, 5:00 p.m.