Minister of Foreign Affairs Luns gives the new Marijnen cabinet a sketch of the multilateral NATO nuclear force situation so far. He is now of the opinion that the Netherlands should not join a multilateral NATO nuclear force. Minister of Defense De Jong says the Dutch government will need to take a position near the end of the year.

The Council of Ministers report on the NATO council meeting in Ottawa, which Minister of Foreign Affairs Luns and Minister of Defense Visser attended. Luns spoke privately with President Kennedy about the attitude of the French and the possibility of an independent German nuclear arsenal. Visser visited weapons centers in the United States and emphasizes the need to accept American leadership in the defense of Europe.

The Council discusses the danger of the German Federal Republic moving to acquire an independent nuclear force. Minister of Foreign Affairs Luns regrets the American focus on the Germans at the expense of the British. Resistance from the French regarding the plan is not expected.

These Council of Ministers minutes report on the meeting between Prime Minister De Quay and several of his state secretaries with NATO Secretary-General Stikker, who gave an outline of what was still called a ‘NATO Nuclear Force’. The prime minister responded positively to the plan but indicated the incoming cabinet would have to take a final decision. In the discussion, Minister of Foreign Affairs Luns comments on the attitude of President De Gaulle and points out that NATO and EEC matters ought to be viewed separately.

Short diary entries from Dutch Prime Minister Jan E. de Quay during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Ambassador relates the highly negative experience of a Dutch business representative who recently traveled to Pyongyang on the request of a Dutch commercial delegation already there. The North Korean hosts were offensive in their manner, attempted to play the different representatives against each other, and made highly dubious proposals and demands, including that 50 cars be donated to state corporations as gifts.

Memorizes a visit by the British Third Secretary of the Embassy. Having heard that North Korea was considering establishing a trade mission in the United Kingdom, the British were looking for information on similar initiatives elsewhere. The Ministry described the unsuccessful attempt a few years earlier, which was by now a thing of the past.

The Netherlands Council for Trade Promotion decides not to reciprocate a visit to North Korea for the time being.

A memorandum notes that the proposal to allow a number of North Korean business representatives temporary yet effectively indefinite stay would require permission from the Justice Department, and proposes to initiate contact to this effect.

The East Asia Department agrees with Foreign Economic Relations that no North Korean trade mission in the Netherlands should be established, but proposes instead that a number of representatives be allowed temporary stay to build up commercial contacts instead.