ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 2552 6 December 1950
FIELD REPORT (Ⅸ CORPS LDI - 0168) 14 November 1950
1. PERSONAL DETAILS:| NAME: | IM Myon Hwa (林明華) |
| AGE: | 21 |
| RANK: | Jr Sgt |
| DUTY: | Food Sup Sgt |
| UNIT: | 4343 Engr Ind Bn, 1st Co, 3rd Plat, 2nd Sqd |
| DATE CAPTURED, PLACE: | 121400 K Nov 50, surrendered at CHASAN (YD-5258) |
| CIVIL OCCUPATION: | Employed at Chemical Plant (Transformer Section) |
| EDUCATION: | Primary School 6 years |
PW was cooperative during interrogation and the information seems fairly reliable. However, he is not re commended for further interrogation.
3. OWN UNIT:20 Jul 50 PW inducted at P’YONGYANG. PW and 50 arrived at CHINNAMP’O the next day. Promoted to Jr Sgt because of his educational background and was assigned to the food supply section of the 4343 Engr Ind Bn. There he dug trenches and simultaneously received training in the mountains because the town was always under air attack.
13 Sep 50, the 4343 Ind Engr Bn was ordered to withdraw to HAMHUNG. About 4 Km north of CHASAN they were strafed and dispersed by enemy fighter planes at which time he deserted and went to his home in CHASAN. He stayed with his folks until 21 Oct 50 when the UN Troops made a parachute landing. 22 Oct 50, they organized a Home Security Unit in which he remained until 12 Nov 50, he was told by UN soldiers to report himself in if he had served with North Korean forces. PW and two others gave themselves up.
PW heard that the 4343 Ind Bn strength was about 2,000 men. However, PW stated while with the 4343 Unit he drew enough to supply about 500 men. The 4343 Unit was organized into 4 Cos (strength unknown), each Co had 3 Plats and 4 sqds to a plat.
4. ENEMY SUPPLY AND EQUIPMENT:Food consisted mainly of rice, dried fish, and vegetables. Each man was rationed 800 grams of rice a day, for 3 meals.
There were men with Russian rifles in his units but the majority were unarmed.
5. PERSONALITIES:LEE Te Shin, Lt Col, CO 4343 Ind Engr Bn.
CHON Kyon Shin, Sr Lt, co 1st Co.
PAK Chun Sun, Jr Lt, 3rd Plat Ldr.
6. MISCELLANEOUS:a. Mode of Travel:
All movement was done on trucks. Since the drivers were very familiar with the roads it was not necessary for them to have lights on except on occasions when they checked to see whether they were on the right road or not. Intervals between trucks was about 50 meters.
b. Morale:
Morale among the troops were low, especially, among the men conscripted Jul 50, who had worked hard in paying huge sums of money for taxes.
He said many wanted to desert the Army but they were afraid of each other because no one knew whether the next man was a communist or not.
c. Propaganda:
PW heard radio broadcasts from South KOREA which urged the North Korean Youths to organize guerrilla groups and harass the North Korean troops. PW was thinking of doing it but advised against it by his friends and if caught by the North Korean troops he would be killed. He said the North Korean broadcasts told of how the South Koreans had crossed the 38th parallel and had invaded North KOREA and that they must fight to wipe the enemy out.
For the AC of S, G-2:
IIDA
