John J. Muccio

{{Short description|Italian-born American diplomat}}

{{infobox officeholder

| name = John J. Muccio

| birth_place = Valle Agricola, Italy{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-05-29-mn-622-story.html |title=Archives |website=Los Angeles Times |date=29 May 1989 |access-date=2013-02-12}}

| birth_date = {{birth date|1900|3|19}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|1989|05|19|1900|03|19}}

| death_place = Washington, D.C., U.S.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/22/obituaries/john-j-muccio-89-was-us-diplomat-in-several-countries.html |title=John J. Muccio, 89; Was U.S. Diplomat in Several Countries |newspaper=The New York Times |date= 22 May 1989|access-date=2013-02-12|last1= French|first1= Howard W.}}

| image = John Muccio.jpg

| caption = Muccio in 1950

| alma_mater = George Washington University

| ambassador_from4 = United States

| country4 = South Korea

| term_start4 = April 20, 1949

| term_end4 = September 8, 1952{{cite web |url=http://seoul.usembassy.gov/p_ambs_bios.html |title=Former Chiefs of Mission in Korea | Embassy of the United States Seoul Korea |accessdate=2011-08-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910014856/http://seoul.usembassy.gov/p_ambs_bios.html |archivedate=2011-09-10 }}. Retrieved 2013-02-14

| predecessor4 = Diplomatic relations established

| successor4 = Ellis O. Briggs

| president4 = Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower

| minister_from3 = United States

| country3 = Iceland

| term_start3 = October 12, 1954

| term_end3 = November 3, 1955

| predecessor3 = Edward B. Lawson

| successor3 = Himself (as Ambassador)

| president3 = Dwight D. Eisenhower

| order2 = 1st

| ambassador_from2 = United States

| country2 = Iceland

| term_start2 = November 3, 1955

| term_end2 = December 16, 1959

| predecessor2 = Himself (as Minister)

| successor2 = Tyler Thompson

| president2 = Dwight D. Eisenhower

| office1 = United States Ambassador to Guatemala

| term_start1 = February 1, 1960

| term_end1 = November 10, 1961

| predecessor1 = Lester D. Mallory

| successor1 = John O. Bell

| president1 = Dwight D. Eisenhower
John F. Kennedy

| resting_place = Rock Creek Cemetery

| children = 4

| office5 = United States Consul in Hong Kong

| term_start5 = 1927

| term_end5 = 1929

}}

John Joseph Muccio{{cite web |url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mozer-mullarky.html#MUCCIO |title=The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Moza to Mulleague |website=politicalgraveyard.com |access-date=2013-02-12}} (March 19, 1900 – May 19, 1989)[https://archive.org/stream/brownalumnimonth515brow/brownalumnimonth515brow_djvu.txt Brown Alumni Weekly: Our Ambassador to Korea][https://books.google.com/books?id=IWdZTaJdc6UC&pg=PA357 The United States in Asia: A Historical Dictionary] was an Italian-born American diplomat who served as the first United States Ambassador to Korea following the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948. His title was "Special Representative of the President" (Harry Truman) in 1948–49 and Ambassador from 1949 through 1952. During his tenure, the Korean War began. In 1950, before the war broke out, he negotiated the first agreement on American military aid to Korea, worth $10 million at that time. Later that year, in testimony to Congress, Muccio called for increased assistance to Seoul and warned that Communist forces were a growing threat north of the 38th parallel.{{Cite news |last=French |first=Howard W. |date=1989-05-22 |title=John J. Muccio, 89; Was U.S. Diplomat In Several Countries |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/22/obituaries/john-j-muccio-89-was-us-diplomat-in-several-countries.html |access-date=2023-02-06 |issn=0362-4331}}

After the North Korean invasion in June 1950, and the dispatch of U.S. army divisions to defend South Korea, Muccio informed the State Department that U.S. commanders had decided to fire on refugees approaching U.S. lines, for fear of enemy infiltrators. His letter, dated July 26, 1950, warned of “repercussions in the United States from the effectuation of these decisions.”

{{cite book|last1=Conway-Lanz|first1=Sahr|title=Collateral damage: Americans, noncombatant immunity, and atrocity after World War II|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|location=New York|isbn= 978-0-415-97829-3|pages=98–99}} On that same day U.S. troops began a three-day slaughter of South Korean refugees in what is known as the No Gun Ri massacre. An estimated 250-300 were killed, mostly women and children.{{cite news |last=Lee |first=B-C |url=http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=003&aid=0004768541 |title=노근리재단, 과거사 특별법 제정 세미나 개최 |language=Korean |trans-title=No Gun Ri Foundation held special law seminar |work=Newsis (online news agency) |location=Seoul |date=2012-10-15 |accessdate=2015-06-02 }}{{cite journal |title=In the Face of American Amnesia, The Grim Truths of No Gun Ri Find a Home |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal/Japan Focus |date=2015-03-09 |last=Hanley |first=Charles J. |volume=13 |issue=10 |url=https://apjjf.org/2015/13/9/Charles-J.-Hanley/4294.html |accessdate=2020-06-06 }}

Through the first two years of the war, before he returned to State Department duty in Washington, Muccio was a crucial liaison in exerting U.S. influence over the South Korean president, Syngman Rhee, helping set the stage for armistice negotiations.{{cite book |last1=Schnablel |first1=James F. |title=Policy and Direction: The First Year |work=United States Army in the Korean War |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |year=1972 |page=395 |isbn=0-16-035955-4 }}

Under President Dwight Eisenhower, Muccio served as United States Ambassador to Iceland, where he previously served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.

Finally, Muccio served as United States Ambassador to Guatemala before he retired from the United States Foreign Service in 1961.