급송문서 (621) 1949년 9월 정치관계 요약

Despatch 621 7).C : CONFIDENTIAL America Embassy [illegible] Seoul, Korea October 7, 1949 Subject: Summary of Political Affairs of the Republic of Korea, September, 1949 The Ambassador has the honor to transmit a summary of political affairs of the Republic of Korea for September, 1949, in continuation of Despatch No. 562, September 13, 1949. The developments of the month are briefly summarized as follows: during September there were no major changes in the trend of affairs of the Republic, although both guerrillas and security forces in southern areas showed increased activity. On the international scene, the number of states recognizing the Re- public reached twenty-two. President RHEE made several comments at press conferences concerning the proposed Pacific Pact, but its status remained unchanged. The disappearance of an American-owned steamship loaned to the Republic prompted a note from Washington to Moscow, asking that the vessel be permitted to proceed to her South Korean destination with the two American advisers on board. Five United States Congressmen visited Korea. From September 8th to 10th, CHOUGE Pyong Ok was named Korea's chief representative to the fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly. On the domestic front, the Korean National Assembly, reconvened on September 12th, passed ten bills in- cluding needed tax legislation, and overrode the Presidential veto of the Court Organization Bill. Several important person- ages were on trial during September, including ex-Ministers Louise YIM (Fund innoce[illegible]) and CEO Pong Am, ex-Property Custodi- an IIM Pyung Hyuk, the alleged killers of Mrs. Ethel UNDERWOOD and Police Captain KII Bo Ik, and two Assemblymen. The National Society was declared officially in process of becoming a semi- governmental but non-political agency. Raids by guerrillas con- tinued in the southern provinces, and four hundred prisoners broke out of a prison at Mokp'o. Security forces were conducting an all-out guerrilla extermination campaign, while police rounded up more and more suspected Communists. Public protests against torture and unwarranted arrest elicited numerous official state- ments promising improvement. In North Korea, the Supreme People's Assembly convened for two days. The proposed North-Korean- sponsored "general election" seemed to be forgotten Enclosure: Political SUMMARY OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA September, 1949 VII. Domestic Conditions D. Mokp'o Prison Break. Approximately four hundred inmates of the prison at Mokp'o, South Cholla Province, rioted shortly after 5 o'clock on September 14th, broke into the prison armory, and [illegible] to escape. Fifty-three [illegible] prisoners were killed in the attempt; 353 others got away, after six prison guards were killed and nine wounded. Combined army, navy, and police forces pursued the fugitives. Army sources reported 237 of them killed, 85 captured, and 6 returned of their own accord, as of September 20th. There was some confusion as to the exact figures on escapees and casualties.3 The Director of the Penal Bureau, De- partment of Justice, who personally investigated the prison break, attributed it to overcrowding of prisons (as mentioned in the Political Summary for August, page 10), poor security planning, absence of some guards on detail elsewhere, and possible subversion among the guards. The fact that the escape was announced over the P'yongyang radio within a few hours of its occurrence suggested the probability of outside Communist assistance. Many of the Mokp'o inmates had parti- cipated in the Communist insurrection on Cheju Island. Mokp'o was not the only badly overcrowded prison in Korea, and the incident there emphasized the possibility of similar occurrences elsewhere unless steps were taken to improve prison conditions. Thought was being given to segregation of political prisoners in separate establishments, and plans were going forward for the con- version of an unused factory in the Yongdungp'o district of Seoul into a penitentiary. Owing to lack of funds and to the greater apparent urgency of catching more Communists, rather than caring for those already imprisoned, such plans for reform were proceeding at a slow pace. 3. Embassy airgram A-288, Sept. 26.