ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 1771 10 October 1950
FIELD REPORT (ADVATIS - 1038) 5 October 1950
(Ref to ATIS Rpt No. 1753)
| 1. PERSONAL DETAILS: | |
| PW NAME: | KIM, Chong Ung (金正雄) (김정웅) |
| PW NO: | 63 NK 12122 |
| RANK: | Lt Col (中佐) |
| AGE: | 27 |
| DUTY: | Regimental Supply officer |
| UNIT: | 12th Div, 21st Regt |
| EDUCATION: | Middle School (2 yrs) |
| OCCUPATION: | Office worker |
| PLACE OF CAPTURE: | 20 km NW of CH’UNYANG (春陽) (1180-1560) |
| DATE OF CAPTURE: | 29 Sep 50 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | HAMGYONG PUKTO, KILCHU GUN, TONGHAE MYON, KUMSONG DONG (咸鏡北道 吉州郡 東海面 錦城洞) |
| HOME ADDRESS: | MANCHURIA, CHILIN SHENG, TUNHUA HISIEN, HWANGNI-HA, TS’UN, TACH’WAN HSIANG (滿洲 吉林省 敦化県 黄泥河村, 大川鄕) |
| INTERROGATOR: | KAJIWARA (FEAF) |
PW was cooperative and talked quite freely. He seemed to be intelligent. He stated he has no interest in communism, or socialism. He claimed to be a military man by profession and does not care who wins the war, as long as he does his job well. This man has been previously interrogated by the 164th MISD (Rept No unk).
3. TACTICAL INFORMATION:Chronology:
25 Dec 45: Entered the Manchurian 156th Div, 8th Route Army, which was composed of about 500 Koreans.
o/a 20 Feb 50: The 15th Div was formed by consolidation N. Koreans from various units in CHINA.
24 Mar 50: The 15th Div with a strength of about 11,500 men crossed the YALU River and entered N. KOREA.
25 Mar 50: Arrived in WONSAN and the 15th was redesignated as the 7th Div of the NKPA. The Div brought only mortars and small arms from MANCHURIA. At WONSAN it was completely equipped.
o/a 21 Jun 50: Arrived at a point 10 km South of YANGGU.
25 Jun 50: Crossed the 38° parallel. PW at this time learned that the 7th Div was redesignated the 12th Div and his regimental number was changed from the 2nd Regt to the 31st Regt. PW did not know the exact reason for this change other than that it was to confuse the enemy. He believes by changing the division’s number as well as its subordinate unite’s numbers it appeared that there were two different divisions.
1 Sep 50: The 31st Regt was on the line 10 km S of KIGYE. The 12th Div Hq was at that time in the mountains immediately W of T’OSONG DONG.
o/a 4 Sep 50: The 12th Div occupied AN’GANG-NI.
o/a 7 Sep 50: Advanced to MURYUN-SAN (무륜산), a mountain 10 km S of AN’GANG-NI.
o/a 16 Sep 50: Orderd to withdraw.
o/a 20 Sep 50: The 12th Div arrived in KIGYE to regroup but after 3 days was ordered th retreat to TOP’YONG DONG (道坪洞), a village 24 km SSW of CH’ONGSONG.
o/a 25 Sep 50: 12th Div was ordered to CH’ONGSONG.
o/a 26 Sep 50: Ordered to retreat to NDONG. PW believes all retreat orders came from Corps Hq which was then in YONGJU. When the PW supply section arrived in the outskirts of ANDONG they heard fighting going on in ANDONG. PW ordered a scouting party into the town to find the whereabouts of the 12th Div. He found out that the main elements of the 12th Div had already passed through ANDONG. One Bn was left South of ANDONG to cover the division’s rear. The CG of the 12th Div had left orders that stragglers of the Div were to by-pass ANDONG, pass through CH’UNYANG and assemble at YONGWOL. The Div Hq was to be in CHECH’ON.
o/a 27 Sep 50: PW and his Regt’l Supply staff arrived in CH’UNYANG then headed toward YONGWOL.
28 Sep 50: At 0600 arrived at a mountain 20 km NW of CH’UNYANG, and saw UN troops pass by on jeeps.
29 Sep 50: PW decided to surrender because he knew ins chances of escape were slim. He went into a village and told a farmer in the village to turn him over to the ROK troops.
Organization and Strength:
As of 26 Sep 50 when PW was separated from the 12th Div the total strength was 4,000 (original 12th Div men from MANCHURIA) plus 2,500 replacements, a total of 6,500 men.
Equipment:
As of 26 Sep 50:
2 x 76mm field guns
2 x SU-76
9 x 82mm mortars in each of the 3 Inf Regts with about 50 rounds per mortar
20 x 60mm (US made) mortars in each Regt with about 20-30 rounds of ammunition per weapon
10 x HMG (both US and Soviet) in each Regt
30 x LMG (US made) in each Regt.
Supply Information:
As regimental supply officer the PW was responsible for all troop supplies except ammunition; however it was his responsibility to transport the ammunition. The Divisional supply was located in ANDONG as of 26 Sep 50, but PW believes all supplies were abandoned during the 12th Div’s retreat.
Ammunition:
Each soldier receives an initial issue of 80 rounds of ammunition and 4 hand grenades. When PW tried to draw ammunition from the division he could never draw more than 2 days units of fire.
Supply Difficulty:
The greatest difficulty encountered in keeping the regiment supplied was transportation. The regiment did not have enough trucks and trucks were limited to night travel only.
Winter Supply:
As of about 20 Sep 50 the only winter supply available was about 2,000 blankets. There was no winter clothing available. About 1/3 of the 12th Division was issued an extra set of summer uniforms so they could wear 2 sets. The 12th Division’s reserve supplies as well as documents were in YANGGU, North of the 38° parallel.
Disposition:
The last known location of the 12th Div was CHECH’ON which was to be the division’s rendevous point.
Other units:
As of 26 Sep 50 PW saw about 1,000 troops from the 15th Div heading northward, by-passing ANDONG and going toward CH’UNYANG. he heard that the other half of the 15th Div had passed through ANGONG the preceeding day and headed toward YONGJU. Saw the 101st and the 102nd Independent Regiments pass through CH’UNYANG on 27 Sep 50. They appeared to be at full strength and were heading toward YONGWOL.
Personalities:
Name: MU Chong (武亭)
Rank: Maj or Lt Gen (中將)
Position: Ass’t Arty officer of II Corps
Name: CH’OE Ch’un Guk (崔春國)
Rank: Maj Gen (少將)
Position: CG, 12th Div. This man was the third CG of the 12th Div. The original CG who came from the CCF was transferred after a heavy setback at CHECH’ON during the early days of the war. The second CG was killed by a shell fragment.
Name: KIM Ch’ol (김철)
Rank: Lt Col (中佐)
Position: CO, 31st Regt
Remarks: Military training received in CCF.
Name: LEE Song Jing (이송진)
Rank: Lt Col (中佐)
Position: CO, 32nd Regt.
Morale and Propaganda:
Since 26 Sep 50 all communication from the 12th Div to its lower echelon have been cut off, and as a result PW believes that the division lacks organization. The COs of the respective units are aimlessly leading their men. Morale was at rock bottom and officers did not maintain proper discipline.
The trend of thought among the troops was along two lines, one to surrender and the other to escape North of the 38° parallel. PW believes that the isolated groups could easily be persuaded to surrender with propaganda leaflets. Many of the die-hard troops may band into guerrilla troops, since they had radios and small arms.
4. GENERAL:PW stated that there were many Koreans who had special training as engineers, artillery men and mechanized troops in various CCF units. There was also an all Korean engineer Regt in MANCHURIA. None of these have entered the present conflict. He heard that those troops which were formed into two divisions were to fight in the ANDONG area, but has seen no evidence of them.
He believes these troops which he estimates to be equivalent to a reinforced division may presently be north of the 38° parallel. The only other units in North KOREA are security units and anti-aircraft units around the industrial areas. The regiment’s 60mm US made mortar shells were ample. Some of the shells had US markings but many had Chinese ordnance markings. PW stated that when they transferred from MANCHURIA to KOREA they did not bring these 60mm mortar shells, consequently he surmised that Communist CHINA is also supplying the NKPA with ammunition.
PW was certain that one Russian advisor was present with the division as late as 30 Aug 50. On one occasion when the division was in the vicinity of T’SONG DONG an officer from Div Hq came to the PW to ask for some flour, since Dive supply had none on hand. He stated that the Russian advisor at the Div Hq could not eat rice.
For the Commanding Officer:
WEELDREYER
Executive
