The Korean War Week 109 - One Step From Peace! - July 21, 1952

[00:00:00]July 21st, 1952.

[00:00:02]We've gone to the point where there is only one thing standing in the way of an armistice. Article 51.

[00:00:16]I'm Indian Idel and this is the Korean War. Last week the US Republican Party convention ended and they chose Dwight Ike Eisenhower as their candidate in this fall's presidential election. An operation to capture enemy prisoners caused big casualty numbers on both sides but failed in its mission and Pyongyang was hit by a massive bombing raid that destroyed 1500 buildings, perhaps more.

[00:00:41]I also explained last week that UN Commander Mark Clark is unwilling to let Eighth Army Commander Jim Van Fleet step up the ground war and take a bunch of casualties in any more operations that Clark feels are only to get real estate.

[00:00:57]So it should not come as much of a surprise that Clark gets a little upset about an order Van Fleet gives to his core commanders this week on the 18th.

[00:01:05]Van Fleet told them there were indications that in some sectors the enemy had shifted forces and evacuated a number of foreign positions. When this occurred, he desired contact with the enemy maintained and the evacuated positions to be occupied for at least 24 hours. Commanders should be ready for a violent communist reaction, Van Fleet continued, and complete fire plans should be made and communication ensured. Clark is in charge of the whole Far Eastern theater and he wonders whether Eighth Army should even be allowed to do this and consult his staff about it thinking that any attacks or raids from battalion size and up should be approved by FECOM, Far East Command.

[00:01:46]He tells his staff he's going to really discourage attacks like like those on the Hill Old Baldy last month in future.

[00:01:53]The UN forces should be patrolling and not much else and let the enemy do the big attacking.

[00:02:00]The enemy is actually attacking Old Baldy this week, though. Okay, US 2nd Division relieves US 45th Division mid-month. 45th has been at the front for 6 months. The Chinese take advantage of this the night of the 17th and attack twice with reinforced battalion strength. E and F companies from the 23rd Infantry are defending the hill.

[00:02:22]And they defend at pretty close quarters, and with quick reinforcements, they push back the first assault, but the second one gains a foothold on the slopes of the hill. The Chinese reinforce this and then lay down some serious artillery and mortar fire. The infantry quickly follows this and takes the crest, and counterattacks by the 23rd Infantry, even backed with air strikes, cannot drive them off of it. By today, 2nd Division elements are only on the eastern slope of Old Baldy, and the rains begin, ending action likely the rest of the month. The American steel strike continues, though.

[00:02:58]The Office of Price Stabilization agrees to an increase to steel mills in the price paid of $5.60 a ton. This worsens the larger manufacturers' bargaining position. Also, US President Harry Truman again threatens to take government control of the steel mills.

[00:03:16]This time, though, under Section 18 of the Selective Service Act. This would likely actually work.

[00:03:24]See, that section allows the president to seize and run any industry that refuses to fill government orders, and the government has been placing direct orders for steel for a month as preparation for this. When the New York Times reports on the 19th that Truman is going to do this in a month, the two sides meet again, the management and labor, in Pittsburgh on the 20th, but already today, the 21st, talks break down. By now, the strike has really affected the country. Half a million workers have been laid off.

[00:03:56]California growers are facing huge losses because there's not enough tin cans for their produce, tin cans which are actually now made of steel.

[00:04:05]The railways are posting huge losses, and the army might even have to shut down shell making plants.

[00:04:13]Well, one unit in Korea that doesn't need heavy shells at the moment is the ROK First Division. The ROK is the South Koreans.

[00:04:21]Earlier in the month, they were pulled out of the front lines and sent to southwestern Korea to fight the guerrilla menace. They headed through the Kerysong area with some national police units attached and encountered nothing approaching organized resistance. The guerrillas followed the same pattern of dispersion and evasion that they used before, breaking up into small groups until the ROK forces passed them by. They came together again afterwards and resumed their depredations. After a campaign of more than 3 weeks chasing the elusive bandits, the ROK First Division returned to the front, and the national police again resumed responsibility for the rear areas.

[00:04:59]So many obstacles to peace.

[00:05:03]It's been a while since I talked about the actual meetings at the Panmunjom peace talks, which have been going on for over a year now, which is pretty much half the length of the actual war. I haven't said much though since William Harrison took over from Turner Joy as UN chief delegate. So, I'm going to go back and I'm going to pick it up. Harrison is a big supporter of Joy's aversion for avoiding ever showing any signs of weakness to the other side. So, he feels that having daily sessions would indicate that the UN is still ready to negotiate and that their final peace package proposal from late April is not actually final.

[00:05:45]What Harrison, well well, and Joy too, would like is to indefinitely suspend the talks until they get some indication from the communists that they are willing to accept the proposal. Mark Clark, UN commander, agrees with them.

[00:05:59]Of course, regular meetings does give the UN a forum for repeatedly reminding the world at large how fair their proposal is.

[00:06:10]But it does also give the communists a forum for exploiting things like the Koje-do incidents and and the charges of germ warfare to the detriment of the UN.

[00:06:20]The communist attack was constantly being refuted by fresh charges and thus was more dramatic and newsworthy.

[00:06:27]Constant repetition of the UN Sea formula, no matter how attractive the original concept might be, had only resulted in diminishing returns in press coverage and had allowed the enemy to retain the initiative.

[00:06:40]How to counter this? Well, there were several possibilities that could be alternatives to an indefinite suspension of the talks.

[00:06:50]Maybe have week-long recesses or postpone meetings at the last minute, right? Or launch a heavy propaganda counterattack. But Clark, he doesn't really recommend these. He wants the UN guys to meet the communists as infrequently as possible while they're completing the final rosters of exactly which POWs, which communist POWs, are willing to return to North Korea or communist China. When those have been compiled, they present them and recess indefinitely until they are accepted.

[00:07:25]Okay. Well, they actually did just that, but this led to an issue in May. Their screening showed that not 70,000, but over 80,000 POWs and civilian internees would go back. There's an obvious disadvantage to telling the communist this. They might think, "Okay, this is another interim number, and we can just delay things and wait on yet another number to arrive."

[00:07:52]However, knowing this boost in the number of POWs that they would get back might convince them to accept the peace proposal.

[00:08:02]Washington tells Harrison to hold off because the re-screening is not entirely finished, and some of the POWs were in compounds that were completely unscreened because of the threat of violence. So, that number really might change again, and in a downward direction. And really, after the whole Kojido explosion and fallout over the weeks, Washington was very skeptical of telling the other side the 80,000 number, fearing they'd think the initial screening was done improperly and was invalid. That, in turn, would weaken the support the US got from their allies and from from neutral nations.

[00:08:42]Well, fast forward to June 6, and Washington shares its thoughts with Mark Clark.

[00:08:47]The strong support that the UNC had won for the principle of non-forced repatriation had been undermined by the incidents on Kojido. Many of the United States' principal allies were urging that some type of re-screening take place now rather than prior to the armistice. If the United States invoked a unilateral indefinite suspension of the talks at this juncture, the Soviet Union might take advantage of the opportunity and bring the matter before the UN Security Council. In the opinion of the Washington chiefs, the question of the number of prisoners to be returned appeared to be all important.

[00:09:25]They felt that a total of 100,000, if it included all of the Chinese, might be acceptable to the communists, but a figure in the 80,000s would only cast further doubts on the original screening process.

[00:09:39]They suggest maybe sending in people from countries not involved with the war to interrogate the the non-repatriates with communist observers on hand and with both sides agreeing to abide by the results. If the communist should refuse this, the UN could then just proceed on its own and give them the figures they come up with.

[00:10:01]If they don't accept them in that case, then they could suspend the talks indefinitely.

[00:10:06]Also that day though, they tell Clark they want to start a campaign of counter-propaganda.

[00:10:13]They want to get people from defense, state, and the CIA to work together in an international watch committee to do this and and is Clark aboard? He is aboard but warns them that the best weapon they have is the truth. No more shroud of secrecy except for military secrets and release stuff fully and factually to the press.

[00:10:38]Clark also wants to immediately release the civilian internees they hold that want to remain in South Korea. The main reason they still even hold them is because releasing them a couple months ago might have had a negative effect on the peace talks but considering the state of them now, why not? Harrison says the communists already accepted these guys separate or or special status last December when they accepted the prisoner list and he doubts they'll break off negotiations over releasing them though they will, you know, [ __ ] and moan about it. But in a happy twist of fate, the communist rapid-fire anti-US propaganda is coming out so quickly that it won't really make any difference.

[00:11:23]Clark also knows that releasing some 27,000 prisoners will ease their logistics considerably and save administration personnel. Truman says, "Do it." on June 10th. Clark tells the South Koreans the 12th and says the whole process will take at least 60 days since the country has to receive these thousands of people and hopefully do it in an orderly fashion. Second logistical command is to be in charge of this working with the South Korean government and upon release each interne should get 30 days rations as well. The plan is approved June 13th. On the 23rd at Panmunjom, Harrison mentions the plan to the communist delegates. They protest of course, but he offers no defense and just says, "This is an internal matter and he was merely telling them as a courtesy."

[00:12:12]The first group of 1,800 are released the next week and by today some 10,000 have been set free. Now, they were still also dealing with all the military POWs in June of course, moving them to newer and more secure compounds and all. And by the end of June, they'd all been screened and the number of repatriates was just over 83,000.

[00:12:36]So, again, do they want to tell the communists this? Clark and Harrison and and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Omar Bradley want to since there is a danger the other side will get this information from from a leak or or from their pretty solid intelligence system. US Department of the Army still says no.

[00:12:57]On July 3rd, they compromise. Clark is allowed to give the communists the revised numbers, but only should the enemy insist on discussing them.

[00:13:06]But you know, as July began, both sides had in fact agreed to every article of the draft armistice except Article 51.

[00:13:17]This says, "All prisoners of war held in the custody of each side at the time this armistice agreement becomes effective shall be released and repatriated as soon as possible. The release and repatriation of such prisoners of war shall be effected in conformity with lists which have been exchanged and have been checked by the respective sides prior to the signing of the armistice agreement. Harrison says, "Why not just accept it as it's written?"

[00:13:47]The communists though, sort of figure that since Harrison is bringing it up, the UN might be about to change its basic position. So, they're kind of nice for a change. And this makes Harrison think, "Well, they might really go for it." He also figures since the other guys want at least 100,000 men, they could sort of juggle the numbers to let them save face. Like repatriate 83,000 directly, right? Include in the count those 26,000 civilians being released, and there are 11,000 South Korean military POWs there, too. And add that together and you get 121,000.

[00:14:28]And that sounds like enough even though it's only really 83,000.

[00:14:33]Clark does not share Harrison's optimism. But, the communist propaganda campaign does come to a standstill for a couple of days. And the delegates have an executive session July 4th, which only serves to show how far apart they are on Article 51. Both sides say they will interpret it as it is, as it is written. But, they do not agree at all on what that is. Especially the part held in the custody of each side at the time this armistice agreement becomes effective. To the UN, well, remember they had planned to recategorize prisoners who do not wish to be repatriated and call them something other than POWs before the armistice becomes effective.

[00:15:20]To the communists, this article means all prisoners whose names were on the December 18th lists. Okay, they can make an exception for POWs held by the UN who actually live below the 38th parallel.

[00:15:33]Sure, but not any others. So, they get pretty disillusioned by the UN idea of recategorization.

[00:15:40]On the 6th though, communist chief delegate Nam Il does tell Harrison that if he could come up with 110,000, including all the Chinese, then they could conclude an armistice.

[00:15:53]Neither side gives ground, and by late last week, Clark and Harrison decide that presenting them with the 83,000 figure is the only hope they have at the moment to break the stalemate.

[00:16:05]Washington says, "Okay."

[00:16:08]And on July 13th, Harrison tells Nam that 76,000 Koreans and 6,400 Chinese want repatriation. Nam asks for 5 days to think about this, and then this week, on the 18th, he completely rejects the numbers. He says he is happy to have the lists rechecked as long as the final number is in the neighborhood of 110,000.

[00:16:34]Washington says, "Well, maybe they should stop releasing the civilian internees, and and that might help somehow." Clark tells Washington that to the other side, the most important POWs to get back are the Chinese, and they seem pretty unconcerned with civilian internees.

[00:16:51]Also, after Nam's rejection, he also asks that the executive sessions at Panmunjom between the delegates end July 26th, and the staff officers again take over the sessions.

[00:17:04]Also, the anti-US propaganda campaign kicks back into high gear once again.

[00:17:09]So, everyone is frustrated and angry once again.

[00:17:15]And with that frustration, I will end this week with only one sticking point preventing an armistice. Civilian internees being released, steel workers still on strike, and also the US Democratic Party's National Convention begins today, the 21st, and they will choose their candidate for the presidential election later this year. I will tell you all about it next week.

[00:17:37]Here's an interesting thing for today's conclusion, courtesy of T.R.

[00:17:42]Fehrenbach's This Kind of War.

[00:17:46]Hemorrhagic fever has hit UN troops in Western Korea, and it's pretty nasty and often fatal.

[00:17:52]So, to fight it, a research lab has been set up on a hospital ship off the coast.

[00:17:58]The communist propaganda brands it as a germ warfare factory. Harrison [music] is actually provoked into saying, "When you deal with the communists, you deal with common criminals."

[00:18:11]But, Fehrenbach has this to say with regard to that.

[00:18:15]Harrison was wrong, and his error pointed up the dangerous weakness of the West in dealing with communism. The charge of criminal flung at a Hitler or Eichmann claims because by the ethos of the society in which those men were born, they were criminal. But, communist society does not have an ethos with the West. It cannot be evaluated by the cultural standards common to the West.

[00:18:42]These vital differences made General Harrison's job at Panmunjom desperately difficult. For the United States and its UN allies to be true to their own concepts, could not in conscience do what the communists now demand as the price of peace.

[00:19:00]Force their unwilling captives home >> [snorts] >> at gunpoint.

[00:19:07]Maybe they can agree soon on Article 51, and we can end this whole thing. But this coverage will continue as they continue to try and figure it out. So that I can continue shining a light on parts of history that are often forgotten or often overlooked, join the Time Ghost Army today at timeghost.tv or patreon.com.

[00:19:30]These are the newest commissioned army officers and John Lawrence is the army member of the week. Now, if this is my buddy Cowboy John John Lawrence in California, tell me so on Messenger and let's have a little chat. If this is another John Lawrence, cuz I'm sure there's many of you, then I salute you. Do not forget to subscribe.

[00:19:49]See you next time.