Anglo-American Intelligence Liaison and the Outbreak of the Korean War

Abstract

The chapter is concerned with the CIA’s intelligence relationships with key international partners – the Five Eyes – and wrinkles in the relationship. Despite being extremely robust in general, there were difficulties. China was a notable exception; Britain and the US had fundamentally different policies. Korea was another. The chapter illustrates the impact this had on intelligence sharing. It then goes on to detail the paucity of CIA analysis concerning Korea, and why this was the case. Documents: Minutes of the British Joint Intelligence Committee 24 August 1949; CIA’s Current Capabilities of the Northern Korea Regime.