Evening star., 1950-07-04
Korea
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NOtO
CONTINUED From First Page.)
the city. The presence of Red pa
trolls five miles south of Suwon in
dicated the infantry is not far
behind the tanks, and possibly
passed them at Suwon.
The Red march into Suwon puts
the Communists well south of the
Southerners' Han River defense
line, which has been crumbling
slowly for days.
Today's attack was made along
the road south from Yongdungpo
where the Reds crossed the Har
few days ago.
"Quite a Lot" of Air Activity.
The spokesman said there was
quite a lot" of United States all
activity today. But, he doubted il
warplanes attacked the tanks
which entered Suwon.
The spokesman announcing Su-
won's fall added these terse de-
tails:
Six Red tanks entered Suwon-
only 20 miles south of Seoul, the
fallen South Korean capital. But
it was not certain whether the
fighting had been in Suwon itself,
Tor nearby.
North Korea's radio broadcast
meantime that its capital. Pyon-
gyang, was heavily hit for the
fifth time. by American bombers.
It said 80 planes dropped more
than 600 bombs.
Later, the Red broadcast said,
"the planes dropped rocket bombs
and machine-gunned buildings
and people,"
There was no ready explanation
of the conflicting statements made
by headquarters spokesmen - one
in Korea, the other here-as to
whether American troops had
already gone into action.
Before Suwon's fall was an
nounced. Macarthur spokesman
here had said American troops had
gone into combat and indicated
the engagement was near Suwon.
Unconflrmed reports at ad-
vanced American headquarters in
Korea said the Yanks had con-
tacted North Korean Red ele-
ments at Munmang, IS miles east
Of Suwon.
Gen. MacArthur's communique,
issued at 4 pm. g am, EDIT an
nouneed simply that United States
Army forces went into action. It
did not specify where, or give de-
tails.
Authoritative military quaraters
here said the engagement was
small and probably was a defen-
sive action against approaching
North Koreans.
They expressed belief that this
first tussle involved only Com
munist reconnaissance forces,
thrown out in advance of the main
advancing forces.
Report Unconfirmed.
Associated Press Correspondent
Tom Lambert reported there was
no immediate confirmation that
the Americans and Communists
had clashed at Munmang. The
town is about 10 miles southwest
Of Wonju, where the Reds report
edly have a large tank concentra-
ton. Munmang lies on the main
highway between Wonju and Su-
won, which are IS miles apart.
The first semi official notice of
Communist forces in the Wonju
area by American or South Korean
officials was this morning. It was
reported then that South Korean
troops captured four tanks and
four armored cars on the road be-
tween Wonju and Checllon, Is
miles southeast.
The Reds Pyongyang radio
claimed yesterday that Wonju had
been captured by. a Communist
column moving southeastward
from its jump-off point at Chun-
chon. some 40 miles northeast of
Seoul.
There were no details on the
reported entry of Red armor into
Suwon. This town and it's airport
have been the apparent goal of at
least three advancing Red columns
in two days.
Weather Hampers Planes.
Bad weather was hampering
American and Australian war
planes. But with rockets and
machine guns they scared and
blasted tank-led Communist in
vasion forces along the sprawling
front yesterday.
More troops and supplies were
pouring into South Korea by plane
to meet the gathering threat of
the Communist north.
Pusan, the major southeast
Korean port. has been turned into
an important beachhead to expe-
dite the flow of guns and men.
Headquarters announced that a
Pusan base command had been es-
tablished under Brig. Gen. Crump
Garvin, a veteran of war in the
Pacific.
Maj. Gen. William F. Deans
United States Army Forces in
Korea" was established officially as
a major command under Gen.