A Federal grand jury indicted the Watergate burglars, E. Howad Hunt, and G. Gordon Liddy. Richard Nixon met with White House staff attorney John Dean on covering up hte White House role in the Watergate story. At the meeting, Nixon Chief of Staff H. R. Halderman and Dean also discussed plans to get revenge on Nixon's enemies.
John Dean.
The ARVN regained Quảng Trị after a three-month effort.
The province had been taken in the 1972 Easter Offensive, and in fact it had been the first major North Vietnamese victory in that effort. The ARVN offensive retook most of the province, but not all of it. The northernmost part of the area would remain in NVA hands until the end of the war.
The province has a large Catholic population and remains an area with several sites important to Vietnamese Catholicism. During the Communist occupation, a large percentage of the residents of the province became refugess.
North and South Korea announced that they had agreed to discuss reunification. Their joint statement held:
The July 4 South-North Joint Communiqué
4 July 1972
Recently, talks were held in Pyongyang and Seoul to discuss the problems of improving SouthNorth relations and of unifying the divided country.
Lee Hu-rak, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in Seoul, visited Pyongyang from May 2
- 5, 1972, and held talks with Kim Young-joo of the Organization and Guidance Department of
Pyongyang; Vice Premier Park Sung-chul, acting on behalf of Director Kim Young-joo visited
Seoul from May 29 - June 1, 1972, and held further talks with Director Lee Hu-rak.
With the common desire of achieving the peaceful unification of the nation as early as possible,
the two sides engaged in a frank and openhearted exchange of views during these talks, and
made great progress towards promoting mutual understanding.
In an effort to remove the misunderstandings and mistrust, and mitigate the heightened tensions
that have arisen between the South and the North as a consequence of their long period of
division and moreover, to expedite unification, the two sides reached full agreement on the
following points.
1. The two sides agreed on the following principles as a basis of achieving unification:
First, unification shall be achieved independently, without depending on foreign powers and
without foreign interference.
Second, unification shall be achieved through peaceful means, without resorting to the use of
force against each other.
Third, a great national unity as one people shall be sought first, transcending differences in ideas,
ideologies, and systems.
2. In order to ease tensions and foster an atmosphere of mutual trust between the South and the
North, the two sides have agreed not to slander or defame each other, not to undertake military
provocations whether on a large or small scale, and to take positive measures to prevent
inadvertent military incidents.
3. In order to restore severed national ties, promote mutual understanding and to expedite
independent peaceful unification, the two sides have agreed to carry out numerous exchanges in
various fields.
4. The two sides have agreed to actively cooperate in seeking the early success of the SouthNorth Red Cross talks, which are currently in progress with the fervent support of the entire
people of Korea.
5. In order to prevent the outbreak of unexpected military incidents, and to deal directly,
promptly, and accurately with problems arising between the South and the North, the two sides
have agreed to install a direct telephone line between Seoul and Pyongyang.
6. In order to implement the above items, to solve various problems existing between the South
and the North, and to settle the unification problem on the basis of the agreed principles for
unification, the two sides have agreed to establish and operate a South-North Coordinating
Committee co-chaired by Director Lee Hu-rak and Director Kim Young-joo.
7. Firmly convinced that the above items of agreement correspond with the common aspirations
of the entire Korean people, all of whom are anxious for an early unification, the two sides
hereby solemnly pledge before the entire Korean people to faithfully carry out these agreed
items.
Upholding the instructions of their respective superiors
S
Lee Hu-rak
Kim Young-joo
A similar communiqué has been issued at least one additional time.
Today, in 2022, prospects for reunification are dim, and frankly they may well be moving further, even permanently, apart. In 1973 when this statement was issued, many Korean had lived in a unified state. Now, many fewer have, and its becoming fewer every day. South Korea is a modern, capitalist, democracy, and younger South Koreans have waning interest in reuniting with the communized backwards north.
Five burglars, James W. McCord Jr. Bernard Barker, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and Virgilio Gonzalez, were arrested inside of Democratic headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, in Washington, D.C.
Nixon was not aware of the plot that his operatives had devised to break into the hotel and steal information from the Democratic Party, but he tried to cover it up once it became clear what occurred. That lead to his downfall.
It's interesting to note how different the times were. Nixon, although not involved in the plot itself, fell for trying to impede its investigation. It was clear that he was going to be impeached, and that Senate Republicans were going to vote to remove him from office.
In contrast, what Donald Trump attempted to do, leading up to January 6, was much worse, and yet he remained in office, is trying to regain office, and Republicans who oppose him openly are harassed for it.
