Chinese Reds Set Up Terms to Cease-Fire 11 Jan 1951

Waterloo Courier

Want UN Seat, Withdrawal of Troops in Korea, Talk on Formosa

Communist China was reported Thursday to have relayed to the British commonwealth prime minister' conference its final revised terms for a cease-fire in Korea.

The report, which could not be confirmed officially, said the Communist regime at Peking demanded:

1. A seat on the United nations security council
2. Withdrawal of foreign groops from Korea
3. Opening of discussions on Formosa, but not necessarily before a settlement in Korea

U.S. to Hold Out in Korea

At the same time reliable sources said the United State has informed Britain it intends to hold out in Korea despite Red China's fullscale intervention.

The report on Red China's final terms was understood to have been relayed to Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru through the Indian ambassador in Peking, Sardar Pannikar.

Previously Peking had demanded withdrawal of the U.S.Seventh fleet from Formosan waters and Communist sovereignty over the island, the last stronghold of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

Informed sources said the American intention to hold out in Korea was relayed through Sir Oliver Franks, British ambassador in Washington, who was instructed 10 days ago to inquire on the subject.

The reply was that the U.S. believed a line could be held and meant to hold it.

The location of the "final" defense line was a military secret.

Britain to Support U.S.

Informants said that Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin has told commonwealth prime ministers in session here that Britain will support American efforts to hold at least a bridgehead in Korea.

In the meantime, Bevin intends to keep on trying to exchange ambassadors with Communist China and attemting to induce other members to admit the Peking government to the United Nations, informants said.

Bevin believes these steps offer the best hope for a "cease fire" in Korea that would prevent open war with Communist China and perhaps another world war.

But if he fails and the UN forces are driven out of Korea, informants said, Bevin told the commonwealth prime ministers that Britain may drop its conciliatory attitude toward the Chinese Reds.

They said Bevin aserted that his government would have to reconsider its position under these circumstances and might join the United States in a "get tough" policy toward Peking.

Full Wartime Censorship Placed on Korean News 1/9/51

Waterloo Daily Courier, front page | January 9, 1951 | UP

Full Wartime Censorship Placed on Korean War News

U. S. Eighth Army headquarters, Korea. –(UP) –

The US.Eighth Army imposed full wartime censorship on news coverage of the Korean War Tuesday and threatened to courtmartial newsmen who deliberately report any troop movements without authorization.

Veteran war correspondents agreed the regulations were the most inclusive they had ever received from any army headquarters.

The rules placed correspondents under the complete jurisdiction of the army and forbade any criticism of the Allied conduct of the war.

The regulations, succeeding the present security censorship, provide that all dispatches filed to publications throughout the world will be screened for military information which might injure the morale of UN troops or their government.

Mention of the following matters was specifically forbidden:

1. Identity of organizations in the combat and communications zones, unless anounced in communiques. When announced, no place names will be used.
2. Quoting officers in any way, except as specifically authorized
3. Stating that any sector in Korea is occupied by American troops until the enemy has established it as a fact.
4. Stating that any town or village in the combat zone is accupied [sic] by American or Allied forces unless it is essential to a news story.
5. The mention of any base port, communications center or other point on a communications line. [newspaper's emphasis]
6. Ship or rail movements, unless authorized
7. Any discussion of Allied air power
8. The mention of number of troops, unless authorized.
9. The effect of enemy fire or bombarment, unless authorized.

Also listed as unauthorized was information on the strength, efficiency, morale, or organization of Allied forces.

Under this rule, no mention may be made of reinforcements, equipment, arms, plans and forecasts of future operations, or positions or descriptions of camps.

Casualties may not be revealed before official publication. [Paper's emphasis]

The Eighth Army ruled that any violator of the code will be suspended from all privileges.

"He may be subject to disciplinary action because of an intentional violation of these and other regulations, either in letter or in spirit, and in extreme cases of offense where investigation proves the circumstances warrant the correspondent may be placed in arrest to await deportation or trial by courtmaritial,' the announcement said.




http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1764829/posts

Tragedy, Starvation and Incessant Plodding is Lot of Korean Refugee 1/9/51

Tragedy, Starvation and Incessant Plodding is Lot of Korean Refugee (Lima News, OH, January 9, 1951, page 4).

The refugees don't complain. They don't whimper. They are too tired for that. Too tired, too stunned and too busy keeping themselves staggering along under the burden of bedding and rice on their backs [snip]

Many slept by the roadside. Their white-clad bodies flashed by in the night. They lay close together for warmth. They just stopped walking and dropped in their tracks when night came on.[snip]

And some kept on walking, shuffling painfully thru the night, handkerchiefs pressed against nose and mouth to sift the choking clouds of dust raised by the traffic.

We passed a dead man lying on the roadway. He was on his side with his legs bent at the knees, as if he had laid down and died of cold or starvation.

The cars of the convoys swerved around the body as they passed.[snip]

You couldn't believe that many people could be on [the trains]. They were heaped even on the tops of the freight cars and on the flatcars. They covered the engine, stood on the cowcatcher and hung on the sides of the cab.

Table comparing US monthly deaths in Iraq with those in Korea

65	2,849	cumulative I	cumulative K	half year I	half year K	each year I	each year K
73	1,754	138	4603
37	3,345	175	7,948
30	386	205	8,334
47	3,475	252	11,809
35	2,154	287	13,963	287	13,963
30	657	317	14,620
43	2,068	360	16,688
82	886	442	17,574
40	1,072	482	18,646
47	1,161	529	19,807
19	806	548	20,613	261	6,650	548	20,613
52	314	600	20,927
147	504	747	21,431
88	1,394	835	22,825
44	1,659	879	24,484
61	531	940	25,015
71	221	1,011	25,236	463	4,623
84	206	1,095	25,442
68	147	1,163	25,589
140	175	1,303	25,764
73	226	1,376	25,990
108	201	1,484	26,191
62	484	1,546	26,675	535	1,439	998	6,062
36	450	1,582	27,125
52	412	1,634	27,537
82	619	1,716	28,156
77	1,017	1,793	29,173
55	302	1,848	29,475
85	197	1,933	29,672	387	2,997
54	173	1,987	29,845
96	243	2,083	30,088
88	541	2,171	30,629
67	310	2,238	30,939
65	199	2,303	31,138
56	471	2,359	31,609	426	1,937	813	4,934
33	1,006	2,392	32,615
81	7	2,473	32,622
71	5	2,544	32,627
61	63	2,605	32,690
51	52	2,656	32,742
70	360	2,726	33,102	367	1,493
76	131	2,802	33,233
108	129	2,910	33,362
76	83	2,986	33,445
	30		33,475

The Iraq War is a lot like the Korean War

Except, in 2007, we have a Republican president, 10% of the deaths, no military draft, no press censorship, and an antagonistic press.

Great website for commemorating Korean War

Korean War Commemoration web site

Setting the stage [for the Korean War]