Korean Civilians

In a Pusan foundry last week, grinning Korean workers in tennis shoes were making hand grenades. They cast the casings, crimped fuses and blasting caps together, then poured in TNT by hand. This perilous operation gave U.S. observers the willies. But this was the only operating arms factory in South Korea. All other arms for the R.O.K. forces (except a hoarded supply of cartridges for old Japanese rifles which some South Korean troops use) are provided by the U.S.

After nine months of war, the South Korean economy is almost at a standstill. No coal mines are operating; the country's second largest mine at Hwasun, 100 miles west of Pusan, has had guerrillas around it for months. Tungsten production, once an important source of revenue, has dwindled to almost nothing.

Millions of Refugees. Some of the textile mills--brightest feature of the present industrial picture--are humming, but they are wholly dependent on ECA cotton imports. They produce only for the R.O.K. forces, bypassing civilian markets. Even so, they cannot provide all that the South Korean units need; the rest of their clothing is a gift of the U.S.

As might be expected, South Korea is suffering from a galloping inflation. In the Pusan market, the price of rice is doubling every month. The price of flimsy Korean rubber shoes is ten times higher than last June. Recently, at the summer-resort town of Tongnae, near Pusan, an important new plant was dedicated, with official tours and speeches. It is a money-printing plant. Even if the printers work overtime (beyond the normal Korean ten hours), and even if the eight presses do not break down, the plant will probably not be able to keep up with the government's currency needs.

South Korea's refugees--currently estimated at 2,500,000 to 3,500,000--must somehow be kept alive. The U.S. Army's Civil Assistance Command has the backbreaking, heartbreaking job of doing it. In addition to food and medical supplies, CAC is shipping in lumber for housing and fertilizer for the rice crop. This year's rice crop will probably be 50% of normal.

The Fat & the Lean. The CAC officers fight a losing battle with combat commanders for transportation to move refugee supplies. Recently, when 17 tiny Japanese railway cars loaded with refugee supplies started north from Pusan, CAC officers almost danced for joy.

Last week's recapture of Seoul--temporarily, at least--magnifies the refugee problem. A CAC executive said that although a few of the people who remained in Seoul had mysteriously managed to stay as "fat as quail," the vast majority were suffering from malnutrition. A U.S. freighter with 77,000 bags of rice was already lying off Inchon Harbor. Orphanages will quickly be set up for Seoul's swarms of homeless children.

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