ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 4065 17 March 1951
FIELD REPORT (164 MISDI 1689) 13 March 1951
| PW NAME: | LEE Yon Sop (李潤妾) (리연섬) (NKA) |
| RANK: | Captain |
| ORGANIZATION: | II Corps, 2d Div, 4th Regt, 1st Bn. |
| DUTIES: | Battalion Political Commander |
| EDUCATION: | 8 years |
| AGE: | 33 |
| OCCUPATION: | Chief Clerk in the KARYON MYON Branch of the Democratic Youth League |
| ADDRESS: | HWANGHAE DO, SINCHON GUN, KARYON MYON, CHOU RI, #181 (黃海道 信川郡 加蓮面 隅里 #181) |
| DATE AND PLACE OF CAPTURE: | 281500 I Feb 51, at MAPYONG NI (DS 6059) by ROK troops. |
| INTERROGATOR: | GWA |
Cooperative. Appeared to be in fair physical condition.
Answered all questions promptly but volunteered no additional information. As political commander for his battalion, PW was not concerned with the purely military aspects of his unit. Therefore. tactical information is limited. Information in general, however; seems fairly reliable.
a. Chronology:
Constructed into the 3d Bn, 5th Regt, 2d Div 20 Oct 46 at NANAM (EB 5718). Received 12 months infantry training in the 2d NKA Division which was disguised under the name of the “Police Constabulary’ Officials Training Unit”. Upon completion of this training in Oct 47, prompted to Jr Lt and given the assignment of Administration Officer for the Democratic Youth League activities in the 3d Bn, 5th Regt, 2d Division.
19 Apr 48, promoted to Sr Lt and transferred to the 1st Bn, 4th Regt of 2d Div where he was assigned Political Officer for the battalion. On the same day, departed NANAM with the 4th Regt by train, and arrived HOERYONG (EB 6298) 20 Apr 48. Promoted to Capt Oct 48.
Departed HOERYONG during Feb 49 with the 4th Regt by train and arrived HAMHUNG (CV 7515) during Feb 49.
Departed HAMHUNG 15 Jun 50, by train with the 4th Regt and arrived P’YONGGANG 22 Jun 50.
Departed P’YONGGANG 24 Jun 50 with the 4th Regt and travelled via the following places:
| DEPARTED | DATE | MODE OF TRAVEL | ARRIVED | DATE |
| P’YONGGANG (CT5253) | 24 Jul 50 | Marched | CH’UNCH’ON (CS 8993) | 28 Jun 50 |
| CH’UNCH’ON | 28 Jun 50 | Marched | KAP’YONG (CS 6988) | 30 Jun 50 |
| KAP’YONG | 30 Jun 50 | Marched | SUWON (CS 2428) | Jul 50 |
| SUWON | Jul 50 | Marched | CHOCH’IWON (CR 4851) | Jul 50 |
| CHOCH’IWON | Jul 50 | Marched | TAEJON (CR 5921) | Jul 50 |
| TAEJON | Jul 50 | Marched | KUMCH’ON (DQ 2096) | Aug 50 |
Departed KUMCH’ON with the retreating 4th Regt, marched over mountain trails through the SOBAEK and TAEBAEK Mountain ranges, and arrived KARYOJU-RI (CT 2691) 25 Oct 50. There the Regt regrouped and received an unknown number of replacements.
Departed KARYOJU-RI o/a 3 Nov 50, marched with the Regt and travelled via following route:
| DEPARTED | DATE | MODE OF TRAVEL | ARRIVED | DATE |
| KARYOJU-RI | 3 Nov 50 | Marched | P’YONGGANG | Nov 50 |
| P’YONGGANG | Nov 50 | Marched | HWACHON | Nov 50 |
| HWACHON (CT 8517) | Dec 50 | Marched | YANGGU (DT 1117) | Dec 50 |
Departed YANGGU during latter Dec 50, marched (at night only) over mountain trails, and arrived KAECH’ON-NI (DS 0445) o/a 5 Feb 51. During this advance, the 4th Regt was engaged frequently in combat, suffering some losses. Feb 51 departed, and arrived MAPYONG NI on 24 Feb 51. There, PW fell ill with a fever that he believes was influenza. He dropped out of his unit and rested in a farmhouse until ROK troops entered MAPYONG NI and captured him at 281500 1 Feb 51.
b. Location and Activities of Units: (As of 24 Feb 51)
When PW dropped out of the 4th Regt, 2d Div 24 Feb 51, the Regiment was marching through MAPYONG enroute to HAJINBU RI (DS 6265). It was rumored that the entire 2d Division would march to the part of the TAEBAEK Mountain range in the vicinity of the 38th parallel and rest there for an indefinite period because the division was exhausted and needed to recuperate.
c. T/O & E and Strength: (24 Feb 51)
II NKA Corps: 2d, 9th, 10th, and 27th Rifle Divisions
2d Divison: 4th, 6th and 17th Rifle Regt, plus Engineer Battalion, Communications Battalion, Medical Unit, Recon Company, Guard Platoon, Rear Echelon Bureau, and Political Bureau.
4th Rifle Regt (Code: No 244): 1st, 2d and 3d Rifle Battalions, plus Engineer Platoon, Recon Platoon, Transportation Platoon, Medical Unit, Rear Echelon Bureau, and Political Bureau.
1st Rifle Battalion: 1st, 2d and 3d Rifle Companies, plus SMG Company, 82mm Mortar Company, and Supply Platoon.
| 1st Battalion, 4th Regt, 2d Div: | Original (Nov 50) | Present (24 Feb 51) |
| EM | 325 (approx) | 325 (approx) |
| Officers | 25 (approx) | 25 (approx) |
| Equipment and ammo: | ||
| PPsh SMG | 45 (approx) | 45 |
| US M-1 Rifles | 0 | 150 (30 rd ea) |
| US Cal 30 Carbines | 0 | 45 (50 rd ea) |
| M1891/30 Rifles (USSR) | 200 (50 rd ea) | 25 (20 rd ea) |
| HMG, Maxim (USSR) | 4 | 4 |
| Browning HMG (US make) | 0 | 5 |
| DP LMG (USSR) | 2 | 2 |
| BAR (US) | 0 | 10 |
| 82mm Mortars (USSR) | 5 | 5 |
| 60mm Mortars (US) | 2 | 6 (10 rd ea) |
| Hand Grenades (US, USSR) | 2 per men | 2 per men |
| Magnetic Compass | Unk | Unk |
| Field Glasses | 5 or 6 | 5 or 6 |
| Field Telephone (USSR) | 1 | 1 |
| Whistle | Unk | Unk |
| Map of KOREA (Scale: 1:200,000) | ||
| Tokarev Pistols (USSR) | 10 | 10 |
Loss of 70 men and Soviet equipment resulted from Jan 51 engagements. 1st Bn received 70 replacements from the 2d Division Headquarters o/a 6 Feb 51 while the battalion was at KAECH’ON NI. At the same time the Rear Echelon Bureau 2d Division delivered an unknown amount of PPsh SMG ammunition to the battalion.
Considerable abandoned US equipment and ammo collected.
4th Regiment, 2d Division:
EM and Officers 1,600 (approx) Unk
Equipment and ammo:
| Wireless transmitter-receiver (USSR make) | 1 | 1 |
| Very Pistol | Unk | Unk |
d. Personalities:
CH’OE Hyon (최현), Lt Gen
CG, II NKA Corps
NO Chol Yong (로철용), Maj Gen
Chief of Staff, II NKA Corps
LEE Ho (리호), Maj Gen
CG, 2d Div, II Corps
LEE Chun Sik (리춘식), Sr Col
Political Commander, 2d Div, II Corps
CHON Kwan Su (전관수), Sr Col
Chief of Staff, 2d Div
LEE Tok Kil (리덕길), Col
CO, 4th Regt, 2d Div
CH’AE Su Chin (채수진), Maj
CO, 1st Bn, 4th Regt
KIM Pong In (김봉인), Sr Lt
Propaganda Officer, 1st Bn, 4th Regt
LEE Sung Kun (리승근), Sr Lt
Democratic Youth League Organizer, 1st Bn, 4th Regt
CHO Chin Su (조친수), Capt
Counter Intelligence Officer, 1st Bn, 4th Regt
e. Replacements:
1st Bn, 4th Regiment, received approx 300 replacements Oct 50 while the battalion was KARYOJU RI. At the same time the entire 4th Regiment received an unknown number of replacements. These replacements were untrained South Korean civilians who had been forced to march north with the NKA as it retreated Sep 50.
1st Bn, 4th Regt, 2nd Division received approx 70 replacements o/a 5 Feb 51 while the battalion was at KAECH’ON NI. These men were sent from the 2d Division Headquarters.
f. Food, Ammo and Other Supplies:
4th Regt personnel subsisted by confiscating food from farmers in villages through which the division passed. Therefore, meals were irregular and the men became increasingly hungry because villages often did not have enough food to feed the regiment since other NKA units had previously passed through the same villages and had confiscated the farmers’ food.
4th Regt received an unknown number of used Soviet HMG and an unknown amount of small arms ammo while it was at KARYOJU RI during Oct 50. The regiment received ammo for PPsh SMG plus cotton-padded winter uniforms while at KAECH’ON NI o/a 5 Feb 51. These supplies were delivered from the Rear Echelon Section, 2d Div, and were carried on “A” Frames and on ox-back.
g. Signal:
2d Div units had the following means of communication:
Regt and Div level: Wireless transmitter-receiver (USSR make).
Bn, Regt and Div level: Field Telephones (US & USSR makes).
All level: Runner
Regt level: Very Pistol
h. Morale and Battle Effectiveness:
4th Regt, men were fatigued and hungry but their morale was high because their combat efficiency was good. PW felt that the fact that the regiment was able to gain considerable US equipment by causing temporary local withdrawals of UN units was evidence of the 4th Regiment’s excellent battle effectiveness.
I. UN PW:
PW knew of no captured US soldiers but stated that the 2d Division Commanding General commanded that all captured soldiers be sent to Division Headquarters. There, they would be interrogated and then sent to the II Corps, which would, in turn, send these captured UN soldiers to a PW camp.
Observed approx 30 captured ROK soldiers being marched northward o/a 15 Feb 51 through village approx 2 km south of P’YONGCH’ANG (DS 4735). These 30 ROK soldiers were guarded by 2 NKA EM. Believes that they were enroute to the 2d Division Headquarters.
j. Medical:
From 3% to 5% of personnel in the 4th Regiment, 2d Division suffer from relapsing fever. A few men have fallen ill with influenza from time to time. Personnel who are too ill to continue marching are usually sent to the Medical Unit, 2d Div Hq for treatment unless the division is retreating at the time. In such events, the sick and wounded are abandoned.
2d Division personnel have received no immunizations.
Approx 5% of the men in the 4th Regiment of the 2d Division have frost-bitten feet. They receive no treatment as medical supply are scarce.
k. Psychological Warfare:
Did not surrender voluntarily but was captured by ROK troops after he fell ill and dropped out of his unit to recuperate in a farmhouse at MAPYONG.
Observed UN leaflets dropped in the vicinity of KAECH’ON NI o/a 6 Feb 51. These leaflets were of two types, one type being printed in Chinese and the other in Korean.
UN leaflets written in Korean script announced that the 10th NKA Division was surrounded and advised NKA personnel to surrender quickly.
PW reaction to the leaflets was amazement at the number of aircraft that UN forces had at their disposal.
Did not hear other soldiers discussing leaflets or broadcasts.
For the AC of S, G-2:
HONG
