Prisoners of War
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Within the first few months of the war both Republic and Democratic sides had obtained many prisoners. Negotiations for the return of prisoners began in December
1951, about two years before the war ended. ‘Lee Sang Cho, a North Korean
negotiator, offered a flat all-for-all exchange of prisoners, and said that the
specific details would work out on their own. American Rear ADM. R.E. Libby
refused, saying that the United Nations wanted to exchange lists of prisoners,
and to have access to prisoner of war (POW) camps in North Korea’[1].
North Korea denied access to POW camps but they did supply their lists of
prisoners. The Communists admitted to having 188,000 men missing, it became
apparent that substantial numbers of these men were actually South Koreans who
had been impressed by the North Korean armies in the early stages of the war[2]. The
United Nations reclassified them; they now claimed to hold 132,000 genuine
POWs, and another 37,000 whom were classified as ‘civilian detainees’, the
United Nations could account for 169,000 of the 188,000 the Communists counted
as missing[3].
Meanwhile, the anti-Communists listed slightly more than 100,000 as missing, of
those 88,000 were South Korean, 11,500 American, and a few hundred for the
other United Nation participants[4].
However, in the first few months the Communists claimed to have taken 65,000
prisoners, but once prisoner lists were exchanged they admitted to holding only
11 percent of what they had previously boasted of having captured.
The United Nations became aware that many of the prisoners
did not want to return to North Korean or Communist China, they moved to the
concept of voluntary repatriation, where if the prisoner wanted or did not want
to return home they were free to do so. During POW negotiations the Communists
said that their prisoner were able to return if they wished, but of the 88,000
South Koreans, less than 200 returned through this fashion[5].
Early in the war, the Communists began broadcasting speeches made by American prisoners where they asked their comrades to stop fighting against the Communists[6], while the vast majority of South Koreans that were captured disappeared, the other United Nations prisoners were not broadcasted and they remained within the POW camps until the war was over. The North Korean POW camps had no order, little food, and no medicine. When the prisoners were in the permanent camps along the Yalu River, the Communists began a campaign of re-education, this was widely perceived as brainwashing[7]. The POW camps had an everyman for himself atmosphere, some prisoners stole food from others, others became progressives accepting the Communist teachings and selling out others for better rations[8]. In the South Korean POW camps many North Koreans tattooed themselves with anti-Communist slogans to prevent themselves from returning to North Korea[9]. The more mature men tended to stay true, while the younger men tended to fold under the pressure of the POW camps.
[1]Stokesbury, James L. A Short Story of the Korean War. New York: W. Morrow, 1988, 188.
[2]Ibid, 188.
[3]Ibid, 188.
[4]Ibid, 188.
[5]Ibid, 189.
[6]Ibid, 190.
[7]Ibid, 191.
[8]Ibid, 192.
[9]Ibid, 194.
Early in the war, the Communists began broadcasting speeches made by American prisoners where they asked their comrades to stop fighting against the Communists[6], while the vast majority of South Koreans that were captured disappeared, the other United Nations prisoners were not broadcasted and they remained within the POW camps until the war was over. The North Korean POW camps had no order, little food, and no medicine. When the prisoners were in the permanent camps along the Yalu River, the Communists began a campaign of re-education, this was widely perceived as brainwashing[7]. The POW camps had an everyman for himself atmosphere, some prisoners stole food from others, others became progressives accepting the Communist teachings and selling out others for better rations[8]. In the South Korean POW camps many North Koreans tattooed themselves with anti-Communist slogans to prevent themselves from returning to North Korea[9]. The more mature men tended to stay true, while the younger men tended to fold under the pressure of the POW camps.
[1]Stokesbury, James L. A Short Story of the Korean War. New York: W. Morrow, 1988, 188.
[2]Ibid, 188.
[3]Ibid, 188.
[4]Ibid, 188.
[5]Ibid, 189.
[6]Ibid, 190.
[7]Ibid, 191.
[8]Ibid, 192.
[9]Ibid, 194.