이승만, 반란의 현장 방문

RHEE VISITS SCENE OF KOREAN REVOLT Flies to Cheju Island Where Police and Army Are Mopping Up Reds—15,000 Dead By RICHARD J. H. JOHNSTON Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES. SEOUL, Korea, April 9 — Presi- dent Syngman Rhee left Seoul by air this morning for Cheju Island, fifty miles off the south coast, where he will conduct a personal inspection of the mopping-up oper- ations against Communist-led guer- rillas. Dr. Rhee's office said the Presi- dent would express to the islanders his personal tha_ks on their "firm, loyal stand against subversive ele- ments and sympathy for the suf- fering they have endured from Communist terrorists." In his first departure from the mainland since his inauguration last Aug. 15, Dr. Rhee was accom- panied on a United States Army plane by Mrs. Rhee. The Presi- dent's office did not disclose when he would return to the capital. Cheju Island has been the scene of a concentrated Communist ter- ror campaign against the army, the police and inhabitants for sev- eral months. At least 15,000 islanders have been killed by heavily armed guer- rilla bands and more than 10,000 houses have been destroyed. Korean Government authorities have repeatedly accused the Rus- sians of supplying arms and am- munition to the rebels. Investigators reported that the islanders had moved en masse from the interior of the island to the north coast. Farmers aban- doned homesteads and the island's life was forced to a standstill. In response to a plea for govern- ment help, fifteen shiploads of re- lief supplies have been sent to Cheju and twenty additional ship- loads are being prepared to pre- vent starvation and an epidemic. The Government announced that 43,000,000 won (four-fifty won are the equivalent of the United States dollar) had been appropriated for the purchase of seed for the is- land's farms. The Government added that 6,449 bushels of rice, millet, soy- bean, corn, white and sweet pota- toes would be shipped to the island for planting. Seed will be distrib- uted to those who have deserted the rebels and returned to their farms "reports from Cheju Island indicate that effective action by the police and the army-have virtually freed the inhabitants of the island from further danger of Communist guerrilla attacks." D. S. Kim, Government information director said-- .Dr. Rhee ordered Army commanders March 17 to capture or wipe out the Communist terrorists on the island. The following day the Army opened a cleanup offensive which is said to have been successful.