Evening star., 1950-10-05
Retreat Trail Uttered
with Bodies Of $4,000
49,
Massaered by Reds
By ReImon Mori,,

a1a BY Relmon Morin
:. = Assoeiated Press Foreign CORRESPONDENT
-a4 TOKYO, Oct. 5.-The Red re-
otreat trail back to North Korea is
strewn with buried and unburied
: bodies Of an officially estimated
125.000 murdered men, women and
children in South Korea.
Where they could. the Reds COW
"ered the evidence of horrible bru-
talities in earth trenches. In the
haste of their retreat, they left
many bodies in exposed mounds
at some places.
Some OF the victims were Amer
lean soldiers taken prisoner by the
Communist Army. but the total
number of American dead is not
known.
American officers said the over
all $4,000 figure is only a minimum
estimate. The tragic total may
run much higher. @rf
Killed by Anti-R Stand.
& South Koreans said most Of the
victims were bludgeoned, speared,
burned or hacked with hatchets
stor opposing communism. s1t
? Mass graves. large and small,
are being turned up in city, town,
village and hamlet along the
bloody retreat route. '''
Many graves have not yet been
opened by American officers in
yestigating the mass murders.
i. American officers fear that sew
eral hundred" Americans whom
the Reds took into North Korea
cmay be massacred before the on
crushing United Nations forces can
reach them.
U. N. Commission Shocked.
- A shocked U. N. commission on
Korea condemned "the complete
disregard by the North Korean
authorities of civilized standards
of behavior" It sat in stunned
silence at Pusan yesterday when
f1rst-hand reports of the atroci-
ties were presented. It immedi-
lately cabled preliminary findings
to Secretary-General Trygve Lie
at Lake Success.
Il Partial figures compiled to date
from official sources showed the
following murder toll:
Seoul area September 16-Sep-
.tember 25-10,000 and possibly
more. The United States Army
10th Corps is investigating.
f. Taejor, September 27-Between
5000 and 5000, including some
Americans. The United States
Army 1st Corps is investigating.
Wonju. October Between l.
600 and 1000. including some
Americans. The United States
Army oath Division is iitestigat-
ing.
! IL GIs in Chinid.
. Chinu. Septembes 22-12 Amer
lean sq1diHrs. The-United States
Army 25ths Division is investigat-
ing.
Yosu, September H42aes The
United States Army 25th Digision
is investigating. 1
Chongju, no date-2,400. The
United States Army 9th Corps is
investigating. x.s
I .suehon,a September 29-2So.
The United States Army I'd Divi-
sion is investigating.
Yangpyong, September % to
September 29-70o. The United
States Army 10th Corps is inves-
tigating.
Mokpo September $500. The
United States Army 25th Division
is investigating.
These are the large-scale
slaughters already known. How
many more will be uncovered as
the inquiry proceeds can only be
estimated, officers said. Butt if
the gruesonae ratio holds else
where they expect to find "450 to
500 in every fair sized town."
Score More on File.
The war crimes investigation
section of the judge advocate S
division said between 20 and 80
other major cases are on file but
have not yet been investigated.
The places and dates were not
disclosed.
Along with them there are
, countless other instances in which
the North Koreans killed the
members of a single family in a
small village.
There are others in which Red
troops driven into the mountains
came out at night probably look
ing for food and then killed the
residents of a village.
Associated Press Correspondent
Stan Swinton reported one such
at Changhung, near Kunsan,
which occurred last Monday. In
that case the Reds, armed only
with bamboo spears, methodically
impaled, 80 people. including chill
dren, after they took the food.
The Womb tragedy, reported by
Associated Press CORRESPONDENT