Lot 55D128: Black Book, Tab 147: Telegram
The Commander in Chief, Far East (Ridgway) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff
C–60059. For info, CINCUNC Adv msg HNC 638.
“Report of meeting of sub-delegations on item 4, this date:1
“UNC opened as follows: In his final statement yesterday Gen Lee repudiated his earlier implication that the official pronouncements of his government for broadcasting were not reliable. He asserted the official announcements were strictly accurate. Thus he confirms the accuracy of the figures concerning the numbers of prisoners of war. This means the Communists have failed to account for at least 50,000 prisoners-of-war on the basis of official figures for the first nine months of the war.
“Yesterday Communists said that their total of missing in action was 188,000. UNC holds at least 116,000, which is some 62 percent. On the other side of the ledger, the ROKA has total of 88,000 persons officially reported as missing in action. Communists report holding only 7,142 of these men, less than nine percent. The US has 11,500 men missing in action. Communists have only 3,198. That is only 28 percent.
“These percentage relationships are revealing. Nine percent of the Republic of Korea Army missing in action and 28 percent of the US soldiers MIA are in Communists POW lists against some 62 percent of Communist MIA in UNC custody. If it were assumed that Communists captured 62 percent of UNC MIA it would amount to about 62,000. In the face of the 65,363 officially reported by Communist GHQ for the first nine months of hostilities; or the 62,000 which is a reasonable estimate based on expected percentages, Communists now list only 11,559 for the entire period of hostilities. UNC is convinced that there is no such actual discrepancy; that Communists are holding thousands of prisoners of war for whom they have failed to account. UNC requests accounting for a minimum of some 50,000 prisoners of war missing from Communist list.
“Gen Lee made following points in reply:
- “a. It is unscientific and unreasonable to expect a POW figure corresponding to the MIA figure.
- “b. This neglects the conditions of war, the large scale movement on the front since a year ago Sept.
- “c. There is also the traditional policy of releasing POW’s on the front.
- “d. Many POWs escaped.
- “e. Many POWs were released to go home.
- “f. This policy of releasing POWs, not detaining them, was right not wrong. These people have gone back home and are enjoying a comfortable life.
- “g. Don’t ask us for the POWs but congratulate them on their life at home.
- “h. Where are the 44,259 persons?
- “i. During hostilities and with propaganda about the atom bomb and kidnapped hundreds of thousands of civilians [sic]. They live a miserable, humiliating life in the ROK. After the armistice proper arrangements must be made for them.
“UNC replied as follows: A reason you give for the extremely small list of POW is that many, many prisoners were released at the front. As a matter of fact, exactly 177 prisoners of war were released at the front. As to escape, surely Communists don’t contend they mislaid some 50,000 POWs in this manner!
“It is a safe estimate that escaped will not exceed 100 at the most. With respect to the contention that the use of MIA figures as a basis of calculation is unscientific and untenable, admittedly the percentage ratio is not definitive but it is indicative. With respect to the condition of combat mentioned in Gen Lee’s statement, there were large sale movements on the front after Sept 50. In general, and overall since then, Communist forces have been retiring and defending. It is characteristic of retrograde movement that the MIA figure is relatively high. It is high because some soldiers, who are KIA, are listed as MIA since no one has knowledge that they were KIA and the rearward movement prevents recovery of the bodies. Thus the MIA figure of the retiring force tends to be inflated, whereas the MIA figure of the pursuing force, which is able to find all its MIA is low. Thus, under the overall combat conditions since Sep 50, Communist MIA figure is inflated while UNC is low. Yet UNC holds a minimum of 62 percent of those Communists carried as MIA, while Communists admit to holding only nine percent of the ROKA MIA and only 28 percent of the US MIA. Using the most favorable figure, UNC maintains that there are upwards of 50,000 POWs admittedly taken by Communists for whom the Communists have given no accounting. Let the eyes of the world observe an accounting for these people.
“Lee replied as follows: UNC is trying to prove that it holds many POWs, whereas Communists hold a small number. The figure published by Communist GHQ is correct. UNC has forgotten the fact that in the figure it published and in the lists it submitted, many other persons are included. It forgets the fact that should the figure of the kidnapped be included, it would be an astonishing figure. UNC says people released at front amount to only 177. This is to underestimate the fact that so many POW were released. If Communists had, like UNC, detained all the persons captured, it might have the 50,000 mentioned. They were allowed to go back home. These measures [Page 1441] are perfectly right. This is a scheme to justify UNC’s retaining part of the POW. UNC is trying to retain thousands of POWs because peoples of the world know how our people are being massacred on account of their political beliefs.
“UNC replied as follows: We are seeking a simple factual accounting for people we believe you hold and have not reported. Communists say they released them at the front. But they released only 177. They say they let them go back home. But they are UN and ROK nationals and they are not at home. Where are they?
“Recessed at 1315 to resume at 1500. Sgd Joy.”
- Reference is to the meeting held on December 24.↩