샤롯 리치몬드가 국무장관에게 보내는 서한

Korean Pacific Press WASHINGTON BUREAU 1620 EYE STREET, NORTHWEST Washington 5, B, C. DIVISION OF NORTHEAST ASIAN AFFAIRS JUN 1 5 1949 DEPARTMENT OF STATE June 10, 1949 RECEIVED JUN 13 1949 DEPT. OF STATE DC/R UNDER SECRETARY JUN 13 1949 DEPARTMENT OF STATE The Honorable James E. Webb Acting Secretary of State Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: It has occurred to us that you might wish to read the enclosed commentaries on the current situation in Korea, and the effects of ECA aid in that country. Very truly yours, KOREAN PACIFIC PRESS Charlotte Richmond Charlotte Richmond <첨부문서> 아시아에 대한 전망 제82호 1620 Eye Street, Northwest Washington 6, D. C. Periscope on Asia #82 by Robert T. Oliver Manager, Washington Bureau Korean Pacific Press Issued by Robert T. Oliver, 1820 S[illegible] St., N.W., Washington 9, D.C., who is registered as an agent of the Korean Pacific Press. A copy of this material is filed with the Department of Justice where the registration statement of the registrant is available for inspection. Registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act does not [illegible] indicate approval or disapproval of this material by the United States Government, nor Seoul, Korea. April 12 (By mail). Can American material aid, plus the resourcefulness of a people determined to be free, solve the kind of problem posed in Korea? This is a question on which may hinge the outcome of piece or war--of democracy or totalitarianism around the world. Does American aid really prime the pump, or is it just a [illegible] the [illegible] on [illegible] [illegible] power [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] inevitable Communist victory? Questions of this kind deserve s[illegible] [illegible] and thoughtful consideration. In Korea the world-wide division between Soviet and anti-Soviet forces is intensified. Here the very nation itself is divided. Russia is doing all it can to hold the North; the United States is granting some economic and military aid to help the freely elected Republic maintain itself south of the 38th parallel line. What will the outcome be? U.S. Ambassador John Muccio gave his answer in a nutshell. "If we can't work together to solve the problem here in Korea, the fault is ours. We can't blame any outside aggressive power. We know the measure of the job, and it is staggering. But it can be licked." Here is a concrete example of what the Korean people are doing. Army funds turned over to ECA for expenditure in Korea have been limited in effectiveness by high operating expenses. In the port of Pusan, for instance, shiploads of supplies were requiring a month or more for unloading, with demurrage charges averaging over $2,000 a day. Since the Korean Office of Supply has assumed the job, the average time for unloading has been reduced to less than a week! The Korean Stevedoring Association has pitched into the job with whole-souled vigor. Not a city has been lost in strikes. Workmen run, rather than walk. All the work is done by hand, and the loads are carried on human backs, not by power cranes. Voluntarily the workmen have been piling their loads higher, and moving them faster. Aside from faster unloading, another big time-saving factor has resulted from unloading the ships directly onto freight cars, rather then putting the supplies first into warehouses, and later onto trains. A third development at Pusan has been to solve the auditing problem for payments for the supplies. According to the ECA agreement, purchasers of the supplies pay the Korean Government in won, which currency is then used for rehabilitation projects. Before the Republic of Korea assumed responsibility, the question of who had received the supplies and how much was paid for them had become a tangled puzzle which no bookkeeping had kept straight. Now the problem is solved by the simple expedient of requiring "cash on the barrel-head" for every pound of supplies as it is loaded on the train. A ship unloading record [illegible] a [illegible] achieved at [illegible], the West Coast port for Seoul. At [illegible] a tide of 33 feet, one of the highest in the world, makes it necessary to unload in lighters rather than directly onto docks. This, plus the total lack of mechanical aids, has made the unloading of supplies a slow and expensive process. Once again the Korean Office of Supply took hold of the problem. Last week a shipload of ammoniated Sulphate fertilizer was received. Loading time in the United States, with full mechanical equipment to help, had been four days. During the voyage the fertilizer had caked solid, so it had to be broken up with picks and shovels. The entire job was completed in the record time of three days. [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] This is the kind of Korean cooperation that is giving ECA top officials full confidence that the aid program for Korea is going to do the job demanded of it. The other aspect of United States assistance to Korea consists of military aid. Some 7,500 American troops and a quantity of military supplies are helping to train and equip a Korean Army now numbering about 60,000 men. Last Saturday I visited Cheju Island, where the Korean Army has been put to its severest test. For the past year, Cheju has been terrorized by Communist forces which held the entire mountainous interior of the island, leaving only a coastal plain around the rim free from attack. Seoul has sent [illegible] a Korean [illegible] expeditionary force of 3,100 men, [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] the island. Col. Yuh first gave his own men an intensive situation in cooperating with the 300,000 island inhabitants. When the confidence of the islanders had been won, they became effective allies of the troops. Next Col. Yuh started a propaganda barrage of the mountainous interior, dropping thousands of leaflets promising full pardon and good treatment to all the "mountain folk" who would voluntarily surrender. As a result of this campaign, over 5,000 people have come down to give themselves up, and are being held briefly in a refugee camp for a period of re-education in the time and purposes of the Korean Government. Mostly they are terribly poor people, who lived on the least productive land in the mountains, who seldom had enough to eat, and who were easy converts to Communist ideology. But the Communists had erred in making promises to them that did not prove true, so they are now quite ready to be re-converted. Saturday President and Mrs. Syngman Rhee flew down from Seoul to give them personal assurance of the interest of the Republic in their welfare, and to tell them they would be restored to their farm homes in time for Spring planting. Dr. Rhee spoke to them, saying in essence, "What you have done has been done. The past is forgotten. You will not be punished. We hope to be able to return you to your farms in time for Spring planting. You must try now to be loyal and useful citizens of the Republic." Before returning to Seoul, Dr. Rhee spoke to two other gatherings--a huge crowd in Cheju City Square, and a group of school children assembled at the airport. The security problem on Cheju, "the worst area of disorders in Korea," has been solved. What this means may be indicated by the fact that the year-long delay of an election for two members of the National Assembly is now ended, and Cheju's people will go to the polls on the anniversary of Korea's first election day--May 10. The remaining Communist guerrilla forces are pinned in the central mountain region by Col. Yuh's men. Most of their arms and equipment have been captured. Lt. Colonel Walter J. Laborer, senior American officer on Cheju, with a group of only seven men under his command, assured me that Col. Yuh is one of the best field commanders he has known. Militarily, as well as economically, the Koreans are proving their ability to manage their problems. From the evidence piling up here in Korea, the American aid that is being provided is really "priming the pump." Robert T. Oliver Manager, Washington Bureau Korean Pacific Press Issued by Robert T. Oliver, 1820 S[illegible] St., N.W., Washington 9, D.C., who is registered as an agent of the Korean Pacific Press. A copy of this material is filed with the Department of Justice where the registration statement of the registrant is available for inspection. Registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act does not [illegible] indicate approval or disapproval of this material by the United States Government, [illegible] Seoul, Korea. April 12 (By mail). Can American material aid, plus the resourcefulness of a people determined to be free, solve the kind of problem posed in Korea? This is a question on which may hinge the outcome of peace or war—of democracy or totalitarianism around the world. Does American aid really prime the pump, or is it just [illegible] the [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] inevitable Communist victory? Questions of this kind deserve s[illegible] [illegible] [illegible] and thoughtful consideration. In Korea the world-wide division between Soviet and anti-Soviet forces is intensified. Here the very nation itself is divided. Russia is doing all it can to hold the North; the United States is granting some economic and military aid to help the freely elected Republic maintain itself south of the 38th parallel line. What will the outcome be? U.S. Ambassador John Muccio gave his answer in a nutshell. "If we can't work together to solve the problem here in Korea, the fault is ours. We can't blame any outside aggressive power. We know the measure of the job, and it is staggering. But it can be licked." Here is a concrete example of what the Korean people are doing. Army funds turned over to ECA for expenditure in Korea have been limited in effectiveness by high operating expenses. In the port of Pusan, for instance, shiploads of supplies were requiring a month or more for unloading, with demurrage charges averaging over $2,000 a day. Since the Korean Office of Supply has assumed the job, the average time for unloading has been reduced to less than a week! The Korean Stevedoring Association has pitched into the job with whole-souled vigor. Not a city has been lost in strikes. Workmen run, rather than walk. All the work is done by hand, and the loads are carried on human backs, not by power cranes. Voluntarily the workmen have been piling their loads higher, and moving them faster. Aside from faster unloading, another big time-saving factor has resulted from unloading the ships directly onto freight cars, rather then putting the supplies first into warehouses, and later onto trains. A third development at Pusan has been to solve the auditing problem for payments for the supplies. According to the ECA agreement, purchasers of the supplies pay the Korean Government in won, which currency is then used for rehabilitation projects. Before the Republic of Korea assumed responsibility, the question of who had received the supplies and how much was paid for them had become a tangled puzzle which no bookkeeping had put straight. Now the problem is solved by the simple expedient of requiring "cash on the barrel-head" for every pound of supplies as it is loaded on the train. A ship unloading record which, [illegible] achieved at [illegible], the West Coast port for Seoul. At Inchon a tide of 33 feet, one of the highest in the world, makes it necessary to unload in lighters rather than directly onto docks. This, plus the total lack of mechanical aids, has made the unloading of supplies a slow and expensive process. Once again the Korean Office of Supply took hold of the problem. Last week a shipload of ammoniated Sulphate fertilizer was received. Loading time in the United States, with full mechanical equipment to help, had been four days. During the voyage the fertilizer had caked solid, so it had to be broken up with picks and shovels. The entire job was completed in the record time of three days. [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] This is the kind of Korean cooperation that is giving ECA top officials full confidence that the aid program for Korea is going to do the job demanded of it. The other aspect of United States assistance to Korea consists of military aid. Some 7,500 American troops and a quantity of military supplies are helping to train and equip a Korean Army now numbering about 60,000 men. Last Saturday I visited Cheju Island, where the Korean Army has been put to its severest tests. For the past year, Cheju has been terrorized by Communist forces which held the entire mountainous interior of the island, leaving only a coastal plain around the rim free from attack. Seoul then sent in a Korean Army expeditionary force of 3,100 men, [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] [illegible] Song was sent [illegible] [illegible] the island. Col. Yuh first gave his own men an intensive education in cooperating with the 300,000 island inhabitants. When the confidence of the islanders had been won, they became effective allies of the troops. Next Col. Yuh started a propaganda barrage of the mountainous interior, dropping thousands of leaflets promising full pardon and good treatment to all the "mountain folk" who would voluntarily surrender. As a result of this campaign, over 5,000 people have come down to give themselves up, and are being held briefly in a refugee camp for a period of re-education in the aims and purposes of the Korean Government. Mostly they are terribly poor people, who lived on the least productive land in the mountains, who seldom had enough to eat, and who were easy converts to Communist ideology. But the Communists had erred in making promises to them that did not prove true, so they are now quite ready to be re-converted. Saturday President and Mrs. Syngman Rhee flew down from Seoul to give them personal assurance of the interest of the Republic in their welfare, and to tell them they would be restored to their farm homes in time for Spring planting. Dr. Rhee spoke to them, saying in essence, "What you have done has been done. The past is forgotten. You will not be punished. We hope to be able to return you to your farms in time for Spring planting. You must try now to be loyal and useful citizens of the Republic." Before returning to Seoul, Dr. Rhee spoke to two other gatherings—a huge crowd in Cheju City Square, and a group of school children assembled at the airport. The security problem on Cheju, "the worst area of disorders in Korea," has been solved. What this means may be indicated by the fact that the year-long delay of an election for two members of the National Assembly is now ended, and Cheju's people will go to the polls on the anniversary of Korea's first election day—May 10. The remaining Communist guerrilla forces are pinned in the central mountain region by Col. Yuh's men. Most of their arms and equipment have been captured. Lt. Colonel Walter J. Laborer, senior American officer on Cheju, with a group of only seven men under his command, assured me that Col. Yuh is one of the best field commanders he has known. Militarily, as well as economically, the Koreans are proving their ability to manage their problems. From the evidence piling up here in Korea, the American aid that is being provided is really "priming the pump."