Senate Select Committee - XII

Information from North Korea and China

As part of the Committee's investigation into the fate of those Americans still missing from the Korean Conflict, the Committee Vice-Chairman traveled to Pyongyang, North Korea from December 19- 21, 1992. This trip was especially significant in that it was the first time a United States Senator had traveled to the North Korean capital. Also, for the first time, a State Department official traveled with Senator Smith to Pyongyang, in addition to two staff members working with the Committee. The trip itself was a follow- on to an earlier trip made by Senator Smith to Korea in June, 1991.

The timing of the trip was important in that just a few weeks earlier, the Committee had held the first in-depth Congressional hearings on American POW/MIAs from the Korean Conflict in more than 35 years. In view of the fact that the North Korean Government has provided virtually no information on 8,177 unaccounted for Americans in the last 40 years, the goal of the trip was to establish a dialogue which would encourage North Korea to move the accounting process forward on a humanitarian basis. A second goal of the fact-finding trip was to gain information from North Korea on reports which had surfaced during the Committee's November hearings on the fate of some American POWs.

The Committee is pleased to report that Senator Smith was successful in achieving both of these goals during the trip. Meetings were held with Supreme Assembly Speaker Yang Hyong Sop, Deputy Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju, and a staff of ministry officials who appeared knowledgeable on POW/MIA issues. The atmosphere was cooperative and it was the sense of Senator Smith and his delegation that North Korea is prepared and willing to move forward on this humanitarian issue without any preconditions. As a sign of good faith, the North Koreans allowed Senator Smith and his delegation to visit their war museum in Pyongyang, although the request had been made only hours earlier. This was the first time any American official had visited the museum. At the museum, Senator Smith was able to view photographs of POWs, documents, letters, personal effects and captured weaponry from U.S. servicemen. Senator Smith's delegation was also permitted to photograph and take notes concerning many of the items in the museum. Important new information was also learned from North Korean officials concerning China's involvement with American POWs.

The principal Committee findings and recommendations concerning this trip are:

• Although the North Korean officials with whom Senator Smith met denied that any American POWs had survived to the present day in North Korea, the Committee cannot exclude the possibility in view of intelligence information which has been received by the United States in recent years. Specifically, the Committee shares Senator Smith's frustration during his trip at not being able to investigate unconfirmed reports that a small number of American POWs may be teaching English at a military language school on the outskirts of Pyongyang. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to cooperate fully in the investigation of these recent reports, in addition to other live-sighting reports which have been received by the United States during the last few decades.

It is likely that a large number of possible MIA remains can be repatriated and several records and documents on unaccounted for POWs and MIAs can be provided from North Korea once a joint working level commission is set up under the leadership of the United States. Accordingly, the Committee strongly urges the Departments of State and Defense to take immediate steps to form this commission through the United Nations Command at Panmunjom, Korea. The Committee also encourages President-elect Clinton, upon taking office, to appoint a high level representative to sit on the commission. The Committee further believes that the proposed joint commission should have a strictly humanitarian mission and should not be tied to political developments on the Korean pennisula.

Comments made by North Korean officials during the trip substantiated indications that many American POWs had been held in China during the Korean Conflict and that foreign POW camps in both China and North Korea were run by Chinese officials. In addition, North Korean officials confirmed that propaganda photos showing POW camps with large numbers of U.S. personnel had, in fact, been taken in China, not in North Korea as purported by the propaganda publications. The Committee notes that other information from both high level Russian intelligence sources and from several U.S. intelligence reports corroborates the comments made by the North Koreans.

Given the fact that only 26 Army and 15 Air Force personnel returned from China following the war, the Committee can now firmly conclude that the People's Republic of China surely has information on the fate of other unaccounted for American POWs. The Committee, therefore, strongly urges the Departments of State and Defense to form a POW/MIA task force on China similar to Task Force Russia. The Committee also strongly urges the Department of State to raise this matter at the highest levels in Beijing. In this regard, we are pleased that the first round of talks was held in January, 1993. We believe that a proposed POW Task Force on China will need to have several additional rounds of talks with the Chinese in order to search for and receive POW information in China over the coming months.

For the surviving families of those Americans still missing from the Korean Conflict, the perception has been that determining the fate of their loved ones is a task that has not been vigorously pursued by their government. We note that this perception has been fueled by past intransigence and lack of information from North Korea and China. In addition, accounting for POWs and MIAs from the Vietnam Conflict has received far greater media attention in America. The Committee can therefore understand why the Korean Conflict has often been labeled the "Forgotten War" by veterans and POW/MIA family members.

However, in view of the Vice-Chairman's recent trip to North Korea, the Committee believes that a dramatic breakthough has been achieved in terms of establishing a dialogue and gaining access to new information on POWs and MIAs. Consequently, there is now a window of opportunity which the Committee believes should be fully exploited by the United States on behalf of the families of those Americans still missing from the Korean Conflict.