특별감찰보고서 - 증거K: 서한 - 제주도지사 유해진의 하곡 수집

SOUTH KOREAN INTERIM GOVERNMENT NATIONAL FOOD ADMINISTRATION SEOUL, KOREA SUBJECT: To check statements in Cheju Do's Governor Lyoo Hai Chin's letter of 13 November 1947, on Summer Grain Collection. (Attachment A) TO : Mr. Carrol V. Hill, National Food Administration adviser 1. The Governor's first point to the effect that there are many farmers called partial-suppliers - who can own only 3 tambo or less or rent 5 tambo or less of land appears to be true. No attempt to check this statement at the farm level was made. However, discussion with many of Cheju Do's officials convinced us that there is substance to this part of his letter. 2. In the last sentence of the second paragraph of his letter the Governor intivates the Director of the National Food Administration had approved the departure from established procedure for collection of summer grains. Telegram NGNFA 1315, 8 Sept. 1947 stated collection grains must "be purchased and distributed by your PFS". Two copies of this telegram were given the Governor on 12 September 1947. On 23 September 1947, Director Chee wrote the Governor that the rationing of grains to farmers should be "under close cooperation with PFS, and you should have the PFS handle the selling part under their own system." These instructions were ignored. We strongly suspect that Director Chee was not informed of the Governor's program until it was fait accompli: In the above mentioned communication of 23 September Director Chee also informed the Governor that the grains returned to farmers would not be replaced. This information was disregarded for all grains received at the temporary collection points were either returned intact to farmers for whom quota credits are claimed or transferred from surplus farmers to farmers classified as partial-suppliers. Sad evidence of the of the consequence of ignoring Director Chee's advise was the limitation of rations for November to the people of Cheju Up - the islands largest center of population - to one hop of rice per person per day. This reduction in rations to Cheju Up was ordered by the Governor. The only reasons Mr. Im and Mr. Lee could give for this action was they thought the Governor felt the people of Cheju Up could afford to buy sweet potatoes and other foods to supplement their short ration. There is also a possibility the Governor ordered this reduction in ration to make possible larger distribution to Myons that were far behind in rationing for past months. (See report on rationing.) 3. The Governor in his letter, and Im, Kwan Ho Chief of the Agriculture and Industry Bureau, orally contend the establishment of the temporary collection points was necessary because the Provincial Food Service could not supply personnel to man the collection points as 11 employees of the service were imprisoned. The facts are the temporary collection points were established in each Myon visited (8 out of 13) on or before 1 September and the collection (so-called) completed before 27 September the date of the arrests. Furthermore all persons arrested were workers in the office of the PFS in Cheju Up and not grain collection men. Attached is a showing of the names of the men arrested and their job descriptions. DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 745070 EXHIBIT "K" 1 To check statements in Cheju Do's governor's Letter (cont.) (Attachment B) It will be noted that none of the vacant positions have been filled, yet PFS has properly manned the collection points for the current program. Shown below are sample collection figures taken from the Myons visited. These figures show that the unauthorized temporary Collection Points were operating in competition with the legal collection points or were opened immediately after the P.F.S. men left the Myon. No P.F.S. men participated in the unauthorized collection or were present when it was made. Neither did P.F.S. have any part in the distribution of the grain. Cheju Up Collections Hallim Myon Chung Muen Myon Suki Myon PFS Unauth-Collections Collections Collections orized PFS Unauth PFS Unauth PFS Unauthorized orized orized July 85 None 175 None 46 176 214 None August 389 None 317 None 117 484 None 1004 September 91 1701 None 2508 14 45 None None October None 404 None 500 None None None None Total Coll. 565 2195 492 3008 177 705 214 1004 Col. comp. Sept Oct. Aug. Oct. Oct. 15 5 5 Distrib. completed Oct. 15 Oct. 10 Namwon Myon Pyosun Myon Ku Ja Myon Aegol Myon Collections Collections Collections Collections PFS Unauth PFS Unauth PFS Unauth PFS Unauth orized orized orized July 133 None 96 None None None No breakAugust None 549 None 338 None down reSeptember None None None 409 None 1166 quested October None None None None None None Total col. 138 549 96 409 338 1166 404 1585 Collection 31 10 31 31 10 Completed July Aug. Aug. Sept. Aug. Sept Not requested Distrib. 1 5 completed Oct. Oct. A glance at the above chart will show that in the Myons where breakdown figures were requested and obtained P.F.S. had completed over 94% of its collection by August 31st. P.F.S. records show that it obtained the percentages of its quota in the Province as follows: July 3.3 Percent August 11.4 " September 4.1 " Total 18.8 " Every fact and figure obtained by the writer clearly indicated that the Provincial Government and not P.F.S. was responsible for the closing of the authorized collection program, and that this was done before any P.F.S. men were arrested. DECLASSIFIED 2 Authority NND 745070 To check statements in Cheju Do' governor's Letter (Cont.) Mr. Ahn ( Incidently Captain Stemenson advised me, Peter J. Carroll, was not a (that the P.F.S. men were arrested on a charge they were leftists. He witness to (further stated that this does not necessarily mean they are communists. this in- (He said the present Governor of Cheju Do is far to the right and that vestigation (all liberals are classified as leftists. The Governor has purged many (others in similar fashion since he came to power 15 March 1947. 4. In the 5th paragraph of his letter the Governor states that "Due to this delayed examination (by P.F.S.) poorer farmers were not rationed back the grains and were nearly starved. It was feared by this critical food situation that there might be a riot". We have already shown from the records that the arrests referred to did not delay P.F.S. collection and it can be said with equal confidence of truth that they have not interferred with the rationing program. Further more is it not beyond the realm of reason to assume the farmers did not eat grain in their possession but permitted themselves to starve until the Governor told the Ku Changs and Pulaks (village lenders) to tell them it was theirs to eat and a K.A.A. man had given them a receipt? This is exactly what happened except in comparatively few instances. These exceptions were made in some Myons where farmers with surpluses had not delivered the surplus to the P.F.S. and the Puloc or Ku Chang decided to take grain from them for the partial supplier who did not have enough grain for his ration (usually 2-1/2 hop per person per day) and seed. In these instances the grain taken from the surplus farmers was sold to the partial supplier and the money delivered to the surplus farmer. All Myon Changs with one exception stated these transactions were made at the official price. In the one Myon the partial supplier was charged 2 or 3 yen over the official price to cover handling costs. The extent of these transfers of grain could not be discovered because no records whatever were kept of these transaction. The only record in the Myon office is a list of the farmers given receipts by the K.A.A. and the amount of grains receipted. In two Myon we examined this list and in every instance the farmer was given back all the grain receipts. We must conclude there was no basis for the Governor's statement there was starving or danger of riot. Keeping in mind 1. That the partial supplier who did receive grain had to have money to pay for it. 2. That he would have had to have exhausted his whole crop before the Governor's program came to his aid and 3. That there is a surplus of eggs on the island and plenty of vegetables and fish, and that all persons who received this grain were farmers, we cannot give the slightest credulity to this part of the Governor's letter. 5. The Governor further states in his letter that "it is a very clear fact that the Provincial Government had attained more than its quota, but the Food Service did not complete its examination". The Governor here assumes that his unauthorized collection should be recognized as satisfactorily sullpementing the National Program and that we are agreed the P.F.S. was remiss in not cooperating with his illegal arrangement. The charges against P.F.S. are thoroughly discredited by the facts shown above. May we intercede here to say that P.F.S. officials should be commended for their refusal to participate in the unauthorized collection or to include the Provincial Governments suedo collection figures with their own. DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 745070 3 To Check statements in Cheju Do's governors letter (cont.) The manner in which the Provincial Government attained its quota and the method of distribution it followed contributed nothing to the welfare of Cheju Do or of South Korea, nor did it in any way help Americas efforts to aid Korea. The confinement of collection and distribution to as small an area as a Puloc or Ku was unscientific from a welfare point of view and nearly all the grain brought in was only looked at, receipted and carried away again by the same farmer. It was a wasteful and impractical use of man power. In one Myon (Chung Muen Myon) with a population of 13,780 (Myon Chang's figures) forty temporary collection points were established. Surely the collection and distribution of grain within the confines of each of these are as, without regard to the interests or the needs of other areas even within the Myon, and in total disregard of the food requirements of the non-farmers in the area, the Myon or Cheju Do, contributed little or nothing to the country's food program. 8. The Governor writes "This Provincial Government has observed, and will also" (always?) "observe, any instructions from the Central Government". The Provincial Governments sabotage of the summer grain collection program is but one of many instances of maladministration. We cannot say that central government instructions were always given and disobeyed in other matters that came to our attention - but we can say that the interests of both the Central Government and Cheju Do have been disregarded. Some of these instances are as follows: (Please bear in mine that the writer was not checking general malfeasance in Government. This list shows only the result of casual observation except on food matters.) a. Utter disregard of ration instructions. (See report on rationing.) 1. Inequitable and unequal allocations to households. 2. Failure to supply rationed food within ration period. b. Improper care of motor equipment. 1. We counted eleven immobilized trucks. 2. No mechanic employed for months and then given use of truck as compensation. Note: PFS trucks all in operation except one repaired. 3. 7 trailers stripped of tires and never used. c. Tardiness in making required reports. d. While we were on the island a ship laden with reparation bamboo acquired 4 days demurrage because of failure of officials to order it unloaded. (It may still be there.) e. Highways and bridges are deteriorating for lack of proper maintenance. f. Provincial Government Inspectors coming late to work at grain collection points to the great inconvenience of P.F.S. and K.A.A. Officials and the farmers. g. No effort whatsoever to restrict transportation of rice during collection period. 4 DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 745070 To check statement in Cheju Do Governor's Letter (cont.) h. No publicity except thru Governor's and other official's speeches. One man in information section writes only for the one newspaper which is published 3 times weekly (not at all for past 2 weeks) and the papers circulation is only 1200. Nearly all bulletin boards bare and many falling in decay. Only information regarding illegal transportation of rice given was thru publication of Food Regulation No. 6 in the above described newspaper. So much for the Governor's letter. Each Myon Chang was asked for his reasons for the failure of the authorized summer grain collection program. Each and every one gave exactly the same reason: a. The quota was too high b. The official collection points were so few, the farmers had to carry the grain too far. Transportation was difficult. We cannot comment on the first point because we have not checked the agricultural history of Cheju Do and are not equipped with essential facts. We can say however, that the second contention appears to lack merit. The collection points established for the present collection program are the same number and in the same locations as those established for the summer grain collection program. Yet every Myon Chang assured us the collection would be completed by 15 December except the Myon Chang of Cheju Up who will complete 100% collection by 31 December 1947. It was interesting to note that the first allocation of quotas to the farmers was made 27 November 1947, yet every Myon Chang visited (except Cheju Up) was certain the collection would be completed within 18 days of that date. We believe there are two reasons for this; (1) The present quota is low and popular and (2) the Provincial Government hoped to use its present efficiency as a cover for its failure to support the Summer Grain Collection. The second reason had the contrary effect upon us however. After learning the people were doing without other grains or receiving their rations late and witnessing the women waiting for these late rations (as the farmers waited for the inspectors) we could not help thinking than an official interested in the welfare of his people would have applied the same efficiency to the Summer Grain Collection Program. AHN, CHANG SOO Chief of Planning Section PETER J. CARROLL Administrative Assistant 11 December 1947 CERTIFIED TRUE COPY: LAWRENCE A. NELSON Lt. Col., TC DECLASSIFIED Authority NND 745070 5