급송문서 (358) 제주도 시찰에 관한 유엔한국위원단 보고서

THE FOREIGN SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA No. 358 [illegible] American Embassy RESTRICTED Seoul, Korea, June 17, 1949 Subject: Transmitting Excerpt from UNCOK Report on Visit to Cheju Island OFFICIAL RECORD COPY Return to LO/A Files when ACTION is completed. The Ambassador refers to various communications from this Embassy on the subject of developments on Cheju Island, and has the honor to enclose for the Department's information a copy of an excerpt from an UNCOK paper of June 9, 1949, incorporating a report on a trip made by Sub-Committee II of the Commission to Cheju Island between May 8 and May 14, 1949. Members of the Sub-Committee visited Cheju Island at the invitation of the Korean Government to observe the bi-elections which were held in two districts on May 10, 1949. The Commanding General of USAFIK provided the Sub-Committee members with free air transportation to Cheju Island. It is the view of this Embassy that the enclosed report describes adequately the activities and observations of the Sub-Committee while on the Island. Particular attention is invited to the Sub-Committee's description of the terrorism and destruction employed by the Communists in their prolonged endeavor to obtain domination of the Island — an effort which failed by the narrowist of margins. Although the report of the Sub-Committee indicates the havoc and misery wrought by the Communists on the hapless inhabitants of the Island, no real picture of the situation can be obtained short of a visit to the Island with its scenes of hundreds of utterly burned-out villages, of thousands of unfortunate refugees huddled together in miserable camps, and of miles upon miles of arable land neither tilled nor inhabited. Enclosure: (N Excerpt from UNCOK paper dated June 9, 1949 EFDrumright/df / RESTRICTED Enclosure to Despatch No. 358, dated June 17, 1949, from American Embassy, Seoul, Korea. A/AC.26/SC.2/15 9 June 1949 (EXTRACT) ORIGINAL:ENGLISH UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON KOREA SUB-COMMITTEE II REPORT ON TRIPS TO THE PROVINCES AFFECTED BY RECENT DISTURBANCES * * * * * * * * * * * * Trip to Cheju Do ) 18). For the purpose of studying the general conditions and at the same time, to be present at the elections in North Cheju Gun on 10 May 1949, the Sub-Committee organized a second major observation trip, to Cheju Island, situated about thirty miles from the tip of the peninsula. This Island, over 120 (sic) square miles in area, known also as Quelpart, became a part of Korea some 900 years ago. Located south of Korea Strait and half way between South Japan and the Northern coast of China, Cheju Island's strategic importance is evident and it was an important Japanese military base during the Second World War. The latest estimate of its population is placed at nearly 300,000 with about 30,000 living in its capital, Cheju City. The principal occupations of the inhabitants of the Island are agriculture, fishing and the raising of livestock. The people are noticeably industrious and self-reliant. However, because of its insular position and the consequent lack of cultural exchange with the outside world, the local system of economy and indigenous culture are prominent and strong provincialism is apparent. 19). Following liberation from Japanese domination, Peoples' Committees were set up on Cheju Island, presumably under the influence of the Communist leaders. It was said that the belated arrival of United States troops and inefficient administration on the Island during the Military Government gave an opportunity to the Communists to attempt to dominate the whole territory. Belated strict measures to curb Communist activities led to open defiance of the Government authorities on 3 April 1948. Disturbances became more widespread and violent during the registration for the May 10 elections and on election day itself. Since less than 50% of the registered voters cast their ballots, the elections in North Cheju Gun were invalidated. Disturbances continued in many areas,and the major activities of the rebels were not crushed until April 1949, a few weeks before the Sub-Committee went there. 20). The group consisting of Mr. Costilhes, representative of France, Mr. Singh, representative of India, and six members of the Secretariat, including two Korean interpreters, and accompanied by Chang Ki Yung, a member of the Liaison Committee, left Seoul on a transport plane on the morning of 8 May. The representatives of China and the Philippines had been recalled by their governments for consultations and were not able to participate. The Chinese [illegible] representative, who had joined the group in its unsuccessful attempt to land on Cheju in April could not participate because of his health. Due to bad weather, the party could not return by air on 12 May as scheduled. Instead, it came back by water and rail and reached Seoul on 14 May. Upon arrival at Cheju Airport, the group was greeted by the Governor, the Army Commander, Police Chief and other officials and a cheering crowd. The Governor's residence became the living quarters for the group. In the late afternoon a large mass meeting was held in the main square of the city to welcome the members of the Commission, and was followed by a public dinner. The Governor and the representative of the Women's Patriotic Association delivered welcoming addresses and the representatives of both France and India responded. On the morning of 9 May, the observation group divided into two groups for the purpose of observing the elections and general conditions in various areas. 21). In order to observe the elections in Cheju City and its neighboring areas, and to observe conditions around this city, Group One, headed by the representative of India with three --- p334 --- members of the Secretariat, remained in Cheju City. On the day preceding the election Group One visited the Island of Chuja, an important fishing centre, with a population of 4,800. The members of the group were told by the mayor and some of the inhabitants, of the people's fervent desire for unification. In this connection they emphasized the urgent demand for and acute shortage of carbide for night fishing, which is important to the livelihood of the populace. Three hundred drums of carbide a year are needed. The main source of carbide, however, is north of the 38th parallel, and due to the division of Korea, this supply has been severely limited. 22). On election day, Group One accompanied by the Governor and the Chief of Police made a tour of the polling stations in and around the capital. There were eleven such booths in electoral District 4 and they were open from 7 A.M. to 4 P.M. The populace seemed to be taking the election seriously; 60% of the registered voters had visited the polls by noon. The voting took place in an orderly manner. 23). The following day, Group One visited an internment camp and the Cheju Alcohol Plant. At the former place, two thousand prisoners were found to be living in an old warehouse. The women outnumbered the men by roughly three to one and there were many babies in arms and young children. These people had been in hiding in the hills with the rebels. According to the director of the camp, 90% of the prisoners had surrendered and the remainder had been captured by the Korean Army. Questions were addressed to a group of rebels who had been captured just a few days previously. Two persons gave the reasons why they had joined the rebels. A young boy said that he had joined the South Korea Labour Party under duress and without realizing what he was doing. Mr. Lee Doo Won, an outspoken individual over thirty years of age, said that being dissatisfied with the conditions prevailing after the liberation, he became a member of the South Korea Labour Party in Inchon before he came to Cheju Do and joined the rebels in the mountains in June 1948. He emphatically stated that he was not a Communist and that only his Party could solve the Korean problem. Criticizing the police and the army, he said that if those forces had sincerely worked for the welfare of the people and if the Government had genuinely advocated the complete sovereignty of Korea, then there would have been no rebellions against it. In answer to a question by the group, an aged prisoner told how he had found himself in a tragic situation, having to flee to the hills with the rebels after they had attacked his village. This might be the case with many of the other prisoners who had run away and subsequently returned. The Cheju Alcohol Plant was constructed by the Japanese shortly before Pearl Harbor and at that time maintained a monthly output of about 1,000 suk. After the liberation, and upon the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea, the plant became a vested property and came under the control of the Department of Commerce and Industry. Production had decreased due to the short- --- p335 --- age of coal and skilled technicians, and is only about 50% of the pre-war figure at present. The basic raw material used in the making of alcohol is the sweet potato, grown on the Island, but the plant has been faced with a shortage of its coal supply which originally came from North Korea. In addition to the manufacture of alcohol, this plant produced about two thirds of the electric current consumed in Cheju City. The manager of the plant told the group that if the unification of North and South Korea could be achieved, the plant would be able to secure an adequate supply of high quality coal and electricity. In order to gather further information on the operation of the Korean Army in Cheju, Group One visited Colonel Yu's staff headquarters and his operation headquarters in the mountains. Colonel Yu, who had been sent down from Seoul in March 1949 to complete the mop-up operation and returned later to Seoul with the members of the Commission, stated that during the period 25 March to 12 April the casualties of the rebels were 2,345 and the Army captured 3,600. The total loss of the civilian population during this period was 1,668. Asked whether the basic causes of Communism had been eliminated in Cheju Do, Colonel Yu said that he was unable to give a reliable answer. However, he observed that if the insurgents who had now repented and surrendered were left with nothing to do the way might be paved for further trouble. Although he realized the grave financial difficulties facing the infant Republic, Colonel Yu nevertheless emphasized the responsibility of the Government in the work of rehabilitation. 24). Before the group returned to Seoul, the election results in North Cheju Gun were announced. According to these returns, 97% of the registered voters went to the polls in District A and in District B 99% of the registered voters cast their ballots. There were seven candidates in each district. Mr. Hong Sun Yong, a member of the Kook Min Whei (3) representative-elect of District A and Mr. Yang Pyung Chik, former member of the Korean Independence Party, representative-elect of District B, ran as independents. Both Messrs, Hong and Yang, who were born on Cheju Do and have lived there all their lives, came to visit the members of the Commission on the evening of 12 May. Mr. Hong, a college graduate and the principal of the Girls' School in Cheju City for over ten years, emphasized the major problem of rehabilitation. He pointed out that due to the riots, the impossibility of farming in many areas, the burning down of a large quantity of barley and the lack of fertilizer which came mostly from the North, there was a great shortage of food on the Island. Unless 60,000 suk of rice could be brought to the Island to feed the needy, many people would face starvation before the October harvest. Mr. Yang, who has been interested in the youth movement and local affairs, claimed that he belonged to no political party at present. He said the Communists had been active before the riots in April. Due to the nervousness of the police many villages and houses were left unguarded when the raids commenced. The rebels compelled people to follow them to the mountains and in most cases, the whole family chose to accompany the father, fearing arrest by the police. He thought --- p336 --- that although people respected the police, some of them were secretly helping the rebels. He believed that while there was comparative safety on the Island, there were still over 500 rebels hiding in the mountains. He emphasized the responsibility of the Government in the reconstruction of Cheju Do and the importance of revising and developing the educational system as a preventive measure against Communism. 25). In accordance with the decision of the Sub-Committee, its Chairman, secretary and two other members of the Secretariat constituting Group Two of the visiting party to Cheju Do, traveled by jeep around the circumference of the Island. In spite of repeated requests to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the local authorities in Cheju for only a minimum of police escort and for dispensing with official receptions, Group Two was heralded by a truckload of police and followed by a jeep carrying the police escort agreed upon. Whenever the group approached a village, it was greeted by seemingly all the inhabi- tants of that place, lined up along the road, waving flags and cheering. The gates of all the villages were decorated with identical posters of welcome and slogans regarding the unification of Korea. Policemen, alternating with spear-carrying guards, were posted all along the roads. The enthusiasm and hospitality of the Korean officials and the detailed security measures made it diffi- cult for the group to have complete freedom of movement and a flexible itinerary. (3) Nationalist Society, affiliated with the National Association for the Rapid Realization of Korean Independence, headed by President Rhee. At Aewol Li, a small port about 30 miles from Cheju City, the group made its first stop in order to wait for a stalled police jeep. The opportunity was used to visit the harbor and local polling centre. The party was greeted by the Chairman of the Election Committee and reminiscences about last year's elections as well as information concerning the present elections were exchanged. In the early afternoon, the group reached Mosul Po which has a good harbor and a large airdrome built by the Japanese. The Mayor, Chief of Police and other dignitaries entertained the group at a luncheon party. The plight of this town and the possibility of developing it into a trading centre were the two points stressed by the Korean officials in their conversations with the members of the group. On its way to Sogwi Po, located roughly in the centre of the south coast of Cheju Island, the group observed an increasing number of partially destroyed villages, some of which were totally burned down and abandoned. All inhabited places are now enclosed by protecting walls made of the loosely piled up volcanic rocks and stones for which Cheju Island is known. The gates are guarded --- p337 --- and closed at night. The most striking feature was the village of Kang Jung Ni, in which every house had been burned to the ground and the rebuilding had been undertaken by old and young of both sexes. The party arrived at Sogwi Po before dusk and because of the poor accommodations in the hotel and at the insistence of the Gun Chief, the party was quartered in his house for the two nights it was in that area. The first evening, the members attended a dinner and reception at which all the local officials and prominent citizens were present. The Chief of Gun delivered a welcoming speech and Mr. Costilhes responded on behalf of the group. 26). The following morning the party devoted most of its time to a trip in the Sogwi Po area. According to the Gun Chief, the city of Sogwi Po suffered its first attack by the rebels in October 1948 and again in November 1948. During the fighting, 190 houses were burned down; the ruins are still to be seen. The casualties among civilians, police and rebels amounted to several hundred. First the group visited an internment camp. Men, women and children, a few hundred of them, were crowded into two separate small houses: in one were those already screened; the second contained those still under examination. The party drove some miles inland to a more mountainous region in order to visit a number of villages. The pattern of the previous day's journey was repeated, the people everywhere were gathered for the usual mass welcome. Hahya Ri, most prosperous village of this area and situated on the dividing line between seaboard and mountains, had remained immune to rebel attacks. The group visited the school, the most prominent structure in the community, as is the case in most of the villages. In greeting the party, the principal of the school took pride in pointing out that not one of his teachers had joined the rebels or become one of their ringleaders, as had been the case in many other places. On its way back to Sogwi Po, the group stopped to watch a large number of women divers - about 100 of them - diving for seafood and seaweeds. Both of these are important products in the economy of Cheju Island. 27). On its return trip to Cheju City, on 11 May, the party stopped at Song San Mi, formerly a Japanese naval base. It visited what had been the Japanese ammunition dump along the coast and inspected a canning factory in operation and an iodine plant now shut down due to the shortage of materials and technicians. The Chief of the district, in discussing local conditions, presented a gloomy picture of the prevailing scarcity of food there and throughout the whole island, A second stop was made at Tong Bong Ni, on the northern coast, about 30 miles from Cheju City, a town which had been completely destroyed on 5 January. The destruction of villages on the northeastern and central southern --- p338 --- coasts seems to have been greater than in any other part of the Island. All the way from Sogwi Po, the party was greeted by cheering crowds whenever it entered or passed through a village. In the afternoon the party reached Cheju City and rejoined Group One of the observation team. Causes and Effects of the Riots on Cheju Do 28). Only a first hand observation of the destruction and ruin conveys an adequate picture of the magnitude of the problem of rehabilitation confronting the Government. The impression of the entire group was deepened by the official figures on the destruction caused by the rebels. There were no statistics on the casualties and property damage from 25 March to 12 May 1949. During this period, the army intensified its programme of pacification. Up to 25 March, the total civilian casualty list, excluding the rebels, reached over 3,560. Houses together with their furniture, either completely destroyed or damaged, numbered 33,489. The value of this destruction was placed at over one billion won. The loss in livestock due to the uprising was equally great; over some 46,000 head of cattle, horses, hogs and sheep, valued at over one billion won. The year of disturbances on Cheju Island reduced the number of its primary schools from 96 to 51 and the enrollment from 35,701 to 27,205. Two of the 11 middle schools were completely burned down and the enrollment in the middle schools dropped from 3,359 to 3,258. 17 teachers joined and led the rioters and over 283 students followed them. It will require more than 55,000,000 won to restore the schools to their original condition. 29). The primary causes for the riots and disturbances on Cheju Do are manifold. The following reasons are generally accepted as important: (a) Because of the strategic as well as the remote location of Cheju Island, the South Korea Labour Party chose to concentrate its activities there following liberation; (b) Poor economic conditions on the Island provided a breeding place for the political activities of extremists; (c) Lack of close contact with the mainland resulted in strong provincialism which in turn fostered dissension against the Government and caused disorder; (d) Undiscriminatory measures applied by the authorities to punish the people who fled with the rebels either of their own volition or under compulsion, gave rebel leaders the opportunity to gather larger forces against the Government. 30). The trouble started when the Northwest Youth Group made its appearance on Cheju Do and cooperated with the police in searching for Communists and Communist suspects. In doing so members of the Northwest Youth Group overstepped their authority. It was said --- p339 --- that Communists and Communist suspects had been subjected to severe beatings by them. Fighting and destruction in the villages followed more or less the same pattern; first it was a struggle between the rebels and the police, and gradually the army as well as the population were drawn into it. The people joined the rebels either under duress or in order to escape reprisals and punitive action by the authorities. Destruction was caused and cruelty exhibited by both sides. 31). The trip to Cheju Do provided the members of the Commission with evidence 'that the villages which had been burned or deserted were in the process of being rebuilt, and that conditions in those places had gradually become normal again. The tremendous problem of rehabilitation had to be seen in order to be realized and appreciated. Evaluation of the Observation Trips 32). By visiting the two main areas of recent disturbances, the Commission not only had an opportunity to see at first hand the seriousness of the destruction and the urgency of the problem of rehabilitation and the extent to which the foundation of the Government has been affected by the riots, but also had a good chance to study the degree to which the division of Korea by the 38th parallel has affected the recovery of industries and the livelihood of the people. 33). The presence of the Commission in those areas far from Seoul helped spread the idea of the United Nations to the common people and enable them to understand and appreciate the work of the United Nations in general and the task of the Commission in particular. 34). The members of the Commission who participated in the observation trips were impressed by the zeal of the large crowds gathered along roads and streets to greet and cheer them. The Korean Authorities did their best in arranging transportation and accommodations for the groups, and the members of the Commission encountered no difficulties in their travels. The pattern of the receptions by local authorities and people indicated plainly the existence of a centralized administration and its relatively efficient operation. 35). The observation group verified that peace and order had been restored in the disturbed areas, and that life in the villages and towns had returned to normal. The small number of rebels still hiding in the mountains constitutes no immediate and serious menace to the security of the two provinces and no challenge to governmental authority. 36). A well planned programme of rehabilitation to be carried out by an efficient local administration and greater opportunity for the people to take part in the government should eliminate most of the causes for a repetition of such riots. --- p340 --- 37). In all the places visited by the observation groups, the people uniformly expressed their urgent desire for the unification of Korea and their great reliance on the Commission for bringing about that unification.