Korean War Working Group

The Commission’s Korean War Working Group is chaired by U.S. Representative Sam Johnson of Texas and Colonel (retired) Aleksandr Semenovich Orlov of the Institute of Military History in Moscow. The Korean War Working Group’s (KWWG) goals are to determine whether Soviets transferred American POWs from Korea to the Soviet Union during the Korean War; and, if so, determine their subsequent fates; and to clarify the circumstances of loss of American servicemen. To meet these goals, the KWWG focuses on three major research areas.

Ministry of Defense Archives at Podolsk - Since the USRJC was formed, one of the main goals of the U.S. side has been to gain access to the Russian Ministry of Defense Archives at Podolsk. It was clear to U.S. analysts for some time that Russian documents held at Podolsk could help us clarify a number of MIA cases and possibly even locate and repatriate remains. Very few foreigners, however, have ever had access to these archives.

After several years of negotiations, the Russian government agreed to allow limited access to the declassified, operational records of the 64th Fighter Aviation Corps. Currently, two American researchers are allowed into Podolsk eight days each month to review these records for information pertaining to unaccounted-for American servicemen. Copies of pertinent material are requested directly from the archives, and are received once a month. The copies are processed and transferred to the U.S. for further analysis.

KWWG researchers have enjoyed limited access to Podolsk since 1998, and have discovered information clarifying the circumstances of loss and, in some cases the fates, of over 140 unaccounted-for American flyers.

Interview program - The KWWG’s extensive interview program has resulted in over 600 interviews with Soviet Korean War veterans in Russia and the former Soviet Union. The Soviet veterans have been cooperative and forthright, and continue to be a profitable source of information. Many have allowed us to copy journals, address books, and photos from their private papers.

The interview program has generated previously unknown details on the fates of several American servicemen, and has provided numerous pieces of information regarding the possible transfer of American POWs to the Soviet Union.

Gulag Analysis Program - Since the end of WWII, many refugees, defectors, and others have reported sighting American servicemen in the Soviet Gulag, or internal network of camps and other detention facilities. One significant report has surfaced recently in the memoirs of a former Soviet Gulag inmate, who lists a number of names that correlate to unaccounted-for American service personnel.

Relevant data from the memoirs; recent interviews with refugees, defectors, and others; U.S. diplomatic and military archival material; and other first-hand and indirect reporting sources have been consolidated to build an extensive data base to further investigate the issue of American POWs held in the Gulag. The sheer volume of this information indicates that there is a basis for further research to the notion of POW transfers, regardless of the credibility that either side of the Commission may choose to ascribe to any single source of information. Compiled and then substantially expanded immediately after the 16th Plenum, the database (which has come to be known as the Gulag Study) was provided to the Russian side in the spring of 2000 as the basis for developing further a bilateral investigative inquiry under the auspices of the Joint Commission.

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JCSD Intro

WW II Working Group

KOREAN WAR Working Group

COLD WAR Working Group

VIETNAM WAR Working Group

GULAG STUDY