남한의 일반정세

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS FAR EAST COMMAND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SECTION, GENERAL STAFF INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY INTELLIGENCE DATA COVERING THE MILITARY ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL FIELDS IN: JAPAN KOREA PHILIPPINES CHINA-MANCHURIA SOUTHEAST ASIA N. E. I. GENERAL HEADQUARTERS FAR EAST COMMAND MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SECTION, GENERAL STAFF TABLE OF CONTENTS NO. Selected Items for the Information of Commanders DATE 2265 and Staffs of the Far East Command 20 November 1948 INTELLIGENCE HIGHLIGHTS (3) NORTH KOREA North Korean 9th Border Constabulary Battalion Hq moves closer to 38th Parallel; movement made from Chorwon to Yonchon in Central Korea; believed related to visit to parallel by North Korean leader KIM Il Sung. North Korean People's Army, Chinese Communist Forces reportedly to establish joint headquarters in Hamhung; construction of CCF barracks temporarily interrupted in this east coast city. (5) KOREA Six unidentified fighter type aircraft in formation, one four-engine bomber sighted over Cheju Island; fighters break formation at 10,000 feet altitude, depart in various directions. South Korean Constabulary pilot deserts with liuison plane; heads for North Korea. No major economic repercussions result from Yosu revolt; blackmarket price of cereals drops. Crop yields for 1948 unusually good; rice collection program has not gained real momentum. KOREA Military, Political, Economic, Social Situation, Press Review, Civil Intelligence, Miscellaneous Selected Items for the Information of Commanders and Staffs of the Far East Command MILITARY SITUATION 1. South Korean Aerial Activity: (a) Unidentified Aircraft Sighted: Six unidentified fighter-type aircraft, flying in formation, were sighted on 1f Nov approaching Cheju Island, approximately 50 miles off the southern tip of Korea. The planes were flying at an altitude of approximately 10,000 feet, on a southeasterly course, when they broke formation and departed in various directions. Shortly before the fighters were observed, a four-engine bomber, similar in design to a B-29, was sighted circling Cheju Island at an estimated altitude of 2,000 feet. It departed the area in an easterly direction. (A-2) (a) Comment: These aircraft possibly were Soviet planes, although no information has been received which would establish their identity. (b) South Korean Pilot Deserts: An unidentified South Korean Constabulary pilot confiscated a liaison plane and took off from a South Korean airfield for North Korea on 18 Nov. The incident occurred at Kimpo Airfield, approximately 18 miles northwest of Seoul. (A-1) (b) Comment: This incident indicates that Communist infiltration into the South Korean Constabulary has not been confined to infantry units, but has extended to flying personnel. It also indicates a drastic need for increased efficiency in screening the armed forces of South Korea and elimination of disaffected personnel. ECONOMIC REPORT 2. General Situation: (a) Prices Steady: No major economic repercussions have resulted from the revolt in South Korea, and the area outside of South Cholla Province remains generally quiet. Over-all prices remained generally steady during the last 10 days of October, with October prices at least five per cent below the September average. A drop of 25 per cent in the blackmarket price of cereals during October has checked temporarily an upward trend of other prices. The blackmarket price of rice in Seoul is approximately 50 yen a pound. Communists reportedly seized only 50 million yen out of 400 million yen in banks in Yosu and Sunchon during their occupation of tho towns. The hydroelectric plant near Posong, with a rated capacity of 3,000 kilowatts, apparently was not damaged seriously by the insurgents. (b) Unusually Good Crops: A National Crop Reporting Board check on actual harvests throughout South Korea indicates that the yields for 1948 are unusually good. However, the damage to crops from typhoons and floods in the southern provinces was found to be greater than anticipated in preharvest estimates. The 1948 rice-collection program is under way, but the program has not yet gained any real momentum. The Government is concentrating instead upon collecting rental rice from tenants on Korean-owned farms and rice due as payment on vested farms. The maximum total receipts from these two sources is estimated at 12,797,500 bushels, which is one-third of the purchase goal of 38,392,500 bushels. Government stocks of cereals totaled approximately 185,000 metric tons on 1 Nov. The Government plans to hold the daily staple ration at 1,050 calories per person during November and December, making the monthly consumption, including supplementary and special rations, approximately 95,000 metric tons. The ration could be increased to 1,315 calories a day during most of 1949, if the Government attains the rice-purchasing goal. Agricultural Minister CHO Bong Am is confident that the purchase goal can be attained, and stated recently that he hoped to raise the standard ration to 1,580 calories during November. However, most Korean and U.S. observers feel that the Government will not collect more than one-half of the proposed goal unless it exhibits considerably more drive and efficiency than it has thus far. Many Koreans feel that Minister CHO is more interested in building a political machine than a department that will operate efficiently. Wholesale personnel changes, either already effected or proposed, have sharply lessened the operating efficiency of the Department of Agriculture and subordinate agencies. (c)