Red Backdown

The first decision in the Battle of Kaesong went to the allies.

The Communists, who had insisted on Kaesong, a town in Red territory, as the scene of the truce talks, took over the place, behaved as if they were the victors receiving a peace delegation from a beaten enemy. Communist propagandists spread the picture of armed Chinese and North Koreans blustering over unarmed U.S. delegates (see below). Matt Ridgway is not the kind of man to take such treatment calmly. He seized on the question of allied war correspondents' being allowed to cover the meetings (see PRESS) and used that issue to show the Reds--and the world--that the U.N. was not begging for peace.

First Day. Before leaving Munsan in his helicopter for the first day of the truce talks, Vice Admiral Charles Turner Joy, the chief U.N. negotiator, scribbled a word for the throng of newsmen who were being left behind. "We, the delegation from the United Nations command, are leaving for Kaesong fully conscious of the importance of these meetings to the entire world. We are proceeding in good faith to do our part to bring about an honorable armistice . . ." The word "honorable" was heavily underscored. Supreme Commander Ridgway accompanied the admiral to his 'copter. As the machine rose, Joy, responding to the correspondents' farewells, crossed his fingers and rolled his eyes heavenward. Ridgway said to the newsmen, with unaffected earnestness: "This is a historic moment."

In the conference room at Kaesong, the five-man U.N. team were met by the five Red bargainers. North Korean General Nam II, leader of the Red delegation, turned out to be a fine figure of a man and a crisp, impressive soldier. He was resplendent in boots, red-striped trousers and gold-laden shoulders.

Nam II studied his watch as the seconds ticked away. Exactly on the stroke of the scheduled hour, he signaled his interpreter, and the talks began.

Admiral Joy delivered an opening statement in which he assured the Reds of U.N. good faith. The heart of his statement was that the U.N. delegation would not discuss political or economic matters, or military matters outside of Korea.

Then Joy proposed that allied newsmen be admitted into the conference area. After consulting with headquarters, General Nam replied that it was "not the time yet for the press to come in."

Between meetings, the allied delegates were ushered about by Tommy-gun-toting soldiers. When Joy sent a messenger back to the airfield for a briefcase, it took the messenger 90 minutes to break his way through the Communist guards. That night, when Joy and his fellow delegates got back to Munsan, the admiral looked worn and tired, was so preoccupied that he almost walked into the whirring tail rotor of his helicopter.

Second Day. The Red radio broadcast detailed accounts of the first day's conference, triumphant in tone, while the U.N. kept mum and allied newsmen, barred from Kaesong, had almost nothing to report to the world. Five civilian newsreel and newspaper photographers slipped past the Communist roadblocks on the ground that they were "accredited to the U.S. Army," reported some details of the Communists' highhanded behavior in the Kaesong area. Chinese troops lined the roads, bristling not only with burp guns but also with captured U.S. carbines and British Sten guns.

In Kaesong, the only freedom of movement for the U.N. people was along the Munsan road, and between the meetinghouse and the U.N. headquarters house, two blocks away. This headquarters, which stood between low hills on the outskirts of Kaesong, had been assigned and furnished by the Communists; the U.N. staff refurnished it with articles trucked up from Munsan. Outside the headquarters house was a stone tablet bearing the words Yung-ting Tai--meaning Everlasting Stability Terrace.

At the conference table, Admiral Joy again demanded that allied newsmen be admitted to Kaesong. Replied General Nam: "The matter must be reserved." Then Joy read a sharp message from Ridgway: "The presence of ... newsmen at a conference of such major importance to the entire world is considered an inherent right by members of the United Nations . . ." Matt Ridgway had decided to force the issue. Joy told the Reds that a truckload of 20 newsmen would go to Kaesong next day.

Third Day. As the correspondents started out next morning for the conference, Ridgway wished them luck. At the Communist check point north of the Imjin River, armed Red guards told the convoy commander that it could not pass. There was a wary and polite argument. The man who pretended to be in charge of the Red roadblock was a nervous young North Korean lieutenant. The man actually in charge was a small, pock-marked Chinese. As the dispute waxed hotter, the Chinese coached the young North Korean more & more openly.

The U.N. jeeps and trucks turned around, one by one in the narrow road, and rolled back to Munsan. Admiral Joy and his four team members, who had been waiting at Munsan, did not take off in their 'copters that day.

Joy sent an indignant message to Nam II making it clear that the truce talks had been broken off because of the blockade. "I am prepared to return with my delegation and continue the discussions which were recessed yesterday upon notification from you that my convoy, bearing personnel of my choosing, including such press representation I consider necessary, will be cleared to the conference site."

Fourth Day. The Communist answer to this was a petulant suggestion that Joy had no valid reason for his action, asked that the conferences start up again on the same basis as before. Cried Radio Peking (in its own brand of English): "There is some dubiety that the American side sincerely wants peace."

Matt Ridgway saw his opening and moved decisively. Over General Nam Il's head, he sent a crisp, soldierly message to

Korea's Kim Il Sung and China's Peng Teh-huai, the two Red bosses with whom he had done the preliminary dickering leading up to Kaesong. Said Ridgway: "The assurances which I require are simple and few . . . The establishment of an agreed conference area of suitable extent completely free of armed personnel of either side. Each delegation must have complete reciprocity of treatment to include complete and equal freedom of movement to, from and within the agreed conference area and . . . include representatives of the press.

"I therefore now propose that a circular area with its center approximately at the center of Kaesong and with a five-mile radius be agreed upon as a neutral zone ... I propose that we both agree to refrain from any hostile acts within this zone during the entire period of our conference. [And] I propose that we agree that the area of the conference site and the roads leading thereto used by personnel of both delegation parties be completely free of armed personnel. . ."

Fifth Day. Matt Ridgway, acting on his own authority, had taken the accurate measure of the men he was dealing with. The Reds capitulated. Said Kim and Peng in a message to Ridgway: "In order to prevent this tiny problem from causing rupture of the negotiations, we agree to your proposal.. . ." To Nam II, Admiral Joy proposed a resumption of negotiations at 2 p.m. Sunday. In five minutes, Joy had an answer. Said Nam: "I will welcome your delegates at 1400 Seoul time." It was probably a speed record of some sort for a Communist backdown.

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