F.O.B. $100,000

When General Mark Clark offered $100,000 last April for the first Russian MIG jet fighter to be delivered intact into allied hands, most people agreed that it was a good idea, but few expected that it would be acted on. U.N. pilots in Korea watched the skies for a few weeks, then dismissed the offer as a good try.

One day this week, as General Clark walked out of his Tokyo headquarters, Air Force General "Opie" Weyland raced up to him and asked breathlessly: "Got a hundred thousand bucks, Boss?" The general raised his eyebrows. General Weyland explained: a Russian-built, almost new MIG jet had just landed on South Korea's Kimpo airfield near Seoul. As U.N. airmen raced toward the red-starred, silver plane, the MIG pilot--a 25-year-old North Korean in a neat blue jumper suit --methodically tore up a picture of a girl friend, unstrapped his pistol holster, saluted smartly and surrendered.

Both plane and pilot were promptly whipped under wraps for detailed examination. Though the U.N. had salvaged MIGs before, this was the first flyable one they had managed to get their hands on. Within 24 hours, Washington announced that the pilot will get his reward --$50,000 for the MIG, $50,000 for being the first to fly over to the U.N. side.

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