Rats in a Corncrib

Most of Korea's 40,000 Communist guerrillas were actually bypassed units of the regular North Korean army and could only be called "guerrillas" because they were fighting behind the front in Allied-held territory. At the time of the junction of the Inchon and Pusan beachheads, Tokyo spokesmen had gloatingly reported them trapped. Last week the guerrillas were acting more like rats in a corncrib than like rats in a trap. They had attacked trains, convoys, supply dumps, command posts, burned or terrorized towns, driven thousands of Koreans from their homes. They seemed to be centrally directed by General Kim Chaek, the North Korean who commanded the June invasion and later became occupation commander of Seoul. R.O.K. intelligence officers had intercepted radio messages to Kim's headquarters, which they believed to be in the hills 20 miles north of the parallel.

Three whole R.O.K. divisions have been held in South Korea for anti-guerrilla work. In addition Police Chief Kim Tae Sun has detailed part of his 55,000 national police. The U.S. 187th Airborne Regiment, which had no jumping missions last week, was patrolling the Seoul-Pyongyang highway. Attached to the 187th for anti-guerrilla duty were the British 29th Brigade and the Philippine contingent.

Too Thin to Hold. Last week a U.S. major, Charles Hoge, came limping into Seoul on sore legs and blistered feet. He had been KMAG adviser to the R.O.K. national police in Chunchon, which was stormed by guerrillas last fortnight. Major Hoge's story:

"I had been in Chunchon for six weeks. Lately we had reports the guerrillas were building up strength. We called a meeting and ordered 60% of the population of 75,000 to leave. I got word to Seoul and was told that the 31st R.O.K. Regiment was coming to join us.

"At 7:15 in the morning there was an attack in company strength on the northeast side of Chunchon. We ordered the rest of the civilians out of the city. Then there was a diversion attack on the south side, perhaps no more than a platoon. Then it was quiet and we thought we could probably hold out until the 31st arrived. But soon the main attack hit us.

"It was made by about two battalions. We had perhaps 200 police and 400 R.O.K. troops and decided we were too thin to hold, as we could see them streaming down the mountains to the north. We formed a vehicle column and headed southwest. Our advance patrol encountered two enemy groups but blasted them out with artillery. When we were about ten miles out, we heard firing far ahead, and assumed--and still assume-- that it was the 31st coming for us."

Waist-High Water. "We decided to sit tight there all night. After dark the column was raked by machine-gun fire from a ridge on the north. We left the vehicles and deployed to the south, but there was no more fire. Next morning we sent patrols down the road and they didn't find much, so we proceeded. I was in the fourth jeep from the front and Colonel Kim, the R.O.K. commander, was just ahead. As we rounded a curve the whole side of the mountain ahead of us opened up with fire. Colonel Kim's driver was mortally wounded by the first volley. My jeep was hit all over as we went for the ditch and fired back. My interpreter was killed and several others were hit. Twenty-five minutes later the enemy had overrun our position.

"About 20 of us were working our way back along the road, crawling on our hands and knees. As I approached an open space I heard a voice in English say, 'Don't go across there, major. I will take you out of here.' This turned out to be Nam Gung Kag, a civilian in the R.O.K. counter-intelligence corps. Nam took us down to the edge of the North Han River and by this time we were out of the enemy fire. He said he knew where a boat was tied up, but we found it full to the sinking point with wounded. He said he knew a place where we could ford the river. Sure enough, we stripped down and waded across the freezing cold water up to our waists.

"Nam led us along the railroad track and then up a mountain trail. We walked from 1 to 8 p.m., and reached a village where Nam had an uncle. Others., reached the village and next morning about 100 of us got into a power-company boat and started south. The boat took water, and we had to put 30 out to keep from sinking. We got out of the boat at Chongpyong and got rides in here to Seoul."

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