Lot 55D128: Black Book, Tab 153: Telegram
The Commander in Chief, United Nations Command (Ridgway) to the Joint Chiefs of Staff
C–60109. HNC–649. For info, CINCUNC Adv HNC 649.
“Further to HNC 648.1 Reconvened 1330.
“UNC opened in following vein: Communist oppose UNC stand on the 16,000 ROK Nationals saying that we must not discuss political questions. From that they reasoned that the UNC should hand over this grp of ROK Nationals without further argument. A clear distinction [Page 1446] must be made between a political question and a legal question. UNC position with respect to these 16,000 Nationalists is based on the Law of Nations and the fact that these people are citizens of ROK. As such they have certain rights. Neither the rights nor the responsibilities can be abrogated by the accident of war. Communists say that nationality and birthplace have no bearing, that the only criterion is ‘which Army did a man belong to?’ That did not go far enough. One criterion is ‘which Army did a man belong to first’. Suppose an NK soldier was captured by UNC and he volunteered to fight on UNC side. Suppose further NK recaptured that man. Would NK under any circumstances band him over as a POW? Or suppose a known citizen of the DPRK was found in the course of a battle in the ROK. Would Communists under any circumstances turn him over to UNC as a POW? With respect to POW data. It is true the UNC POW list was deficient in certain details which are being corrected. But it did give an account of every POW the UNC ever held. It is also true that Communists list contained the name, serial number, unit designation and rank of prisoners of war; 11,559 of them. There is only one small omission: The names of upwards of 50,000 POW who according to official Communist Government reports have been in Communist hands.
These prisoners of war were Communists responsibility under the laws of war. Who are they? Where are they? What has happened to them? If we can find these 50,000 men the Communist proposal regarding the release and exchange of POWs would begin to be honest. Without them it is a dishonest and fraudulent proposal. As to names and serial numbers of these 50,000, obviously they would appear on the list of the MIA after delegation of POW reported. There is an easier approach to finding a reasonable portion of these names. Give the UNC a list of the ROKA soldiers impressed into the DPRK Army. Before denying having impressed ROKA personnel listen to a few facts as reported by former ROKA soldiers who escaped to UNC lines. Incidentally this conflicts with the statement made this morning that no prisoners of war ever went abroad. Perhaps Communists get around that discrepancy by your assertion that these are ‘liberated privates.’ To UNC they still remain POWs. In September and October of 1950 Communists moved the bulk of the captured ROKA personnel into Manchuria. After indoctrination these POW were assigned to the VI, VII and VIII Corps KPA. Some divisions in the corps contained as high as 30% former ROKA soldiers. These were compelled to fight against their own forces during 1951. From Dec 1950 through Aug 1951 captured ROKA personnel were assigned to the II, III, and IV Corps of the KPA. For the most part, these former ROKA replacements were processed first through POW camps and then assigned to various KPA Corps Replacement Regiments. The number of replacements [Page 1447] processed through these regiments depended on the number of ROKA soldiers captured during the various offensives and the need for replacements in depleted KPA combat units. Two of the regiments were the 398 unit of the III Korean People’s Army Corps and the 792 unit of the V KPA Corps. The str of these regiments varied between 1,200 and 3,000, depending on the number of ROKA personnel captured. Captured ROKA pers recd from 2 weeks to 3 months tng and indoctrination, prior to asgmt to a front line unit, These personnel were never assigned to any one combat unit in large numbers, to facilitate strict surveillance and prevent desertion. Though this procedure of impressing captured ROKA personnel may be labelled ‘voluntary induction’ or as ‘re-education and release,’ it is nothing more or less than forced induction-impressment. It is a violation of the rights of the individuals so impressed. UNC therefore asks that they be restored to POW status and that their names be added to the POW lists. This will account for a considerable block of the 50,000 persons for whom we are looking. Gen Lee replied as follows: The nationality of these people is a complicated question. The name of our republic is the DPRK. When it was born, it was as a result of an election which showed the will of the entire people of Korea, including the South Koreans. Therefore, such complications or political questions should not be discussed. About the inaccurate claim of 50,000 persons—most POWs were released. Don’t worry about their safety. They must have gone home long ago. No small number of them must be fighting in your rear for liberation of South Korea. UNC summarized its arguments on the missing ‘50,000’ and stated that when it had received an honest forthright explanation it could discuss Communist proposal intelligently. Recessed 1545 hours. Signed Joy.”
- See telegram 251320Z, supra.↩