ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 4384
FIELD REPORT (ADVATIS FWD 0001) 2 November 1950
| PW NAME: | KIM Chong Ch’ol (金宗哲) (김종철) |
| RANK: | M/Sgt (特務上士) |
| AGE: | 23 |
| DUTY: | Rifleman |
| UNIT: | 635 Unit (Brigade), 4th HMG Bn |
| EDUCATION: | Primary School, (3 yr) |
| OCCUPATION: | Farmer |
| PLACE OF CAPTURE: | SARIWON |
| DATE OF CAPTURE: | 26 Oct 50 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH: | HAMGYONG PUKTO, MYONGCH’ON-GUN, SANGUN NAM-MYON, MAJON-NI (咸鏡北道 明川郡 上雲南面 馬前里) |
| HOME ADDRESS: | MANCHURIA, CHILIN-SHENG, HOLUNG, JENTIENTSUN JENTIENKUNG (東北 吉林省 和龍縣 和龍市 在田村 在田宮) |
| INTERROGATOR: | Cpl HAMASU (ATIS) |
Information fairly reliable. Informant cooperative. However, PW of low intelligence.
City of HOLUNG was surrounded by high mountains covered with a dense pine forest. There were flat lands between mountains utilized for crops such as rice, Irish potatoes, cabbages, sugar cane, wheat etc. The land in this area was considered agricultural despite rolling mountain and dense forests. The soil in this area was very fertile, black, and productive. The mountains in the southwest sectors were noted for producing anthracite coal. Furthermore gold was also found. There was a river approximately 70 m in width, flowing W to E north of HOLUNG. This river was not navigable due to uneven depth. The bottom of the river was pebbles. In this area there were coal, gold and timber, however they were not produced on a large scale. Ample amount of timber was cut to supply the needs of HOLUNG and its vicinity. Coal and gold products were transported by train to places unknown.
| Temperature - | low month | high month | average month |
| winter | Jan (-28°C) | Mar (50°C) | Oct (-12°C) |
| summer | Aug (10°C) | Jul (25°C) | Jun (18°C) |
Seasons - Winter - Oct to Mar, Summer - Jun to Aug.
Snow - Begins in Oct and ends in Feb.
Average Depth - 80 cm. The river freezes from Nov to Mar.
Average depth of ice - 2 m.
Rainfall - Season from Jun to Jul. Average rainfall about 1 cm. The ground freezes from Oct and thaws in Apr.
Natural Vegetation - White Fine tree - average size, 1 m in diameter and numerous other non-commercial trees.
Cultivated Crops - Irish potatoes, corn, rice, sugar cane, wheat and cabbage.
Single track RR line ran from YUNG CHING (永井) to HOLUNG, and there was a railroad line extending to the HOLUNG Coal Mine from the HOLUNG RR Station. There was scheduled passenger train entering HOLUNG RR Station, estimate of about one an hour. These trains were always crowded. The width of the RR was about 140 cm and the road bed was 2 m above the surface of the ground. The condition of the RR was good.
Telephone lines were strung alongside the RR track on a pole made of white pine, and placed 50 meters apart.
The electric power in HOLUNG derived from the power plant in CHILIN. There is a (transformer) Sub Station in HOLUNG, and it transforms the electrical power to the coal mine which is about 3 km South-southwest of HOLUNG RR station.
There were two RR bridges and two highway bridges near the HOLUNG RR Station. The RR station was located in the outskirts of town, about 2 km N of town.
Transportation of goods was almost all done by train, since there were very few trucks in HOLUNG.
The population of HOLUNG is estimated to be from 25,000 to 30,000. PW states that about two thirds of the total population is Korean, and one third Chinese. Majority of the Koreans were farmers, whereas about one half of the Chinese have their own business and the other half, engaged in farming.
Education - About 70% of the total population of HOLUNG has no education whatsoever. Majority of those who are illiterate are farmers. These farmers who comprise approx 66 ⅔% of HOLUNG, have no religion at all.
In the town of HOLUNG, about 50% of Chinese businessmen are believers in religion. They are either protestants or catholics. Majority of the Korean population are firm believers in God. These people like the Chinese are either catholics or protestants. PW doesn’t know if there were other religions besides those already mentioned. There were only three churches in HOLUNG. At times, religious ceremonies were carried out at individual’s homes or backyards, due to the lack of accommodation at the church. The people in HOLUNG had freedom of religion.
Health & Sanitation: In HOLUNG, there were only two known hospitals, both of them were public hospitals. Inoculation shots were given to townspeople, about 3 times a year by the doctors of these hospitals. PW states, the sanitary conditions were far better when the Japanese controlled these area. They were very strict in enforcing vaccinations and immunizations. However, after they left, contagious diseases were prevalent. In Oct 48, PW knows of dengue fever causes in HOLUNG, number of persons who caught this disease was unknown. However, this was considered a great setback for the hospitals and doctors, since they had no medicine to counteract it.
Location - The HOLUNG RR Bridge was located about 1 km E of the HOLUNG RR Station. The town of HOLUNG was located approx ½ km S of HOLUNG RR Bridge.
Size - The HOLUNG RR Bridge was about 100 m long and 4 m wide. This was a single span steel plate girder.
On the same location alongside of the RR bridge, there was a bridge about 100 m long x 8 meters wide. This was chiefly utilized by cars and pedestrians heading toward YENCHI. This was a wooden girder (type) bridge.
For the Commanding Officer:
GERARD
