Evening star., 1946-12-15
Soviet Threats, Vodka
EnIivened Korea Trip,
PauIey Diary Relates
BY the Assoeiatsd Press

[ uuC UlUi NVlulVS
BY the Asseeioisd Press
A bizarre story of heavily
guarded tour In Russian-controlled
Korea which produced threats that
American picture-takers would be
shot, but wound up with a sociable
vodka dinner was unfolded yester-
day in the diary of Reparations
Commissioner Edwin w. Pauley.
The diary of his six-day inspec-
tion strip through the northern
(Sovie) zone several months ago
went to President Truman with a
report in which Mr.. Pauley said it
may be Russia's aim to force q
Moscow dominated government on
all Korea before 1t agrees to with
draw its troops.
The inspection group Of 10 Ameri-
cans was accompanied into Northern
Korea by contingent OF Russian
soldiers armed with American
Tommyguns. The contingent
dwarfed, in size, the White House
Secret Service detail.
Shout Down Interpreters.
The Russians made direct and de-
termined efforts to prevent the
Americans from talking to Koreans,
Mr.. Pauley related, going to the
length of shouting down" American
interpreters.
At one point q Russian general
told Mr.. Pauley that If the Ameri-
cans did not stop taking pictures
some Of us might not even have
the opportunity Of being sorry we
took them"
Mr.. Pauley, who has the personal
rank of Ambassador, related that he
and Col. Gen. I. M. Chistiakoy, the
Soviet supreme commander in Ko-
rea, could not agree at their first
conference on the areas the Amer
ican mission was to visit.
So Mr.. Pauley tried little STRAIT
egy. He sent the Soviet general
riding crop and found the Russian
much more affable at their next
meeting
Pauley Given Dagger.
"It was q special one and q very
fine one with thin dagger sword
blade inside of It" Mr.. Pauley wrote
in his diary. "It evidently made a
great hit and may have caused the
change In his attitude"
Later Gen. Chistiakov, not to be
outdone, gave Mr.. Pau1ey "a beauti-
fully finished dagger knife"
This presentation, Mr.. Pauley said,
was followed by typical Russian
dinner" at which vodka flowed freely
and there was 40 times too much
to eat" Previously the party had
been guests at a dinner given by
Gen. Romanenko, who conducted the
Americans on their restricted tour.
The Russians took no chances
guarding the members Of his mis-
sion, Mr.. Pauley related.
Guards Everywhere.
There are Soviet guards every
where with their ever-present tom
my guns" he wrote. 1.-THE Presi-
dent of the United States, If he had
his entire Secret Service guard as
sembled at one time, was never
guarded as completely as we are"
The Soviet officials warned the
Americans against taking pictures,
Mr.. Pauley said. but he replied that
the United States cameramen were
not Shooting" any military objec-
tives, and besides, the war was over.
Gen. Romanenko said that these
were his orders" Mr.. Pauley noted.
"and If we disobeyed them it would
be he that would get in trouble be-
cause some Of the guards might be
too quick to enforce the orders not
to allow pictures to be taken. He
added that some Of us might not
even have the opportunity Of being
sorry we took them"
On a definite mission to inspect
industrial plants, Mr.. Pauley noted
that sit is probably only coinci-
dence that the only time the train
speeds up is when we are passing
an industrial plant"
Interpreter Watched Closely.
When the Russians said that q
certain machine tool factory did
not exist, Mr.. Pauley sent Mr..
Chang, his Korean interpreter, to
try to find it.
This was quite an undertaking" !"
MI. .~Pauley said, because the Soviet
officers had surrounded Chang with
Soviet-Korean Interpreters. The
poor fellow could not make move
without being followed or walked in
front of, or shouted down when he
asked a question. It was very ap-
parent they did not want us to re-
ceive any information from the
Korean populace whatsoever"
They finally found the machine
shop, Mr.. Pauley related, only to
discover that it was next door to an
electrical power substation from
which all the transformers had been
removed.
This was apparently the reason
why we had difficulty finding our
machine shop in the first place"
he added.
Industry in Operation.
In contrast to Manchuria, where
he said the Russians had carted
away enough machinery to wreck
the industrial plant, Mr.. Pauley
found industry in operation in the
Soviet zone of Korea.
But he reported the Soviets ap-
pear to be embarked on a program
of propagandizing the people into
Communism and Of obtaining con-
troll of all governmental and eco
nomic functions.
While Russian banners extolling
the Soviet government as "the high
est form of democracy" adorned the
streets, Mr.. Pauley reported there
were some indications the Koreans