Evening star., 1951-07-26
By james M. Common
oltimofe sunpopsrs' War Correspondent,

KAESONG, Korea. July 26.--
Suddenly there he was, Western
Ter in Western clothes-one of youl
town-in the company of the en-
emy.
! It was during the noon recess
today and not many were around
outside the conference house. Two
Russian jeeps pulled up in a
swirl of dust, and each was packed
with Chinese in faded blue cotton
uniforms OF loose jacket, trousers
and cap.
| AS the Chinese climbed from one
car they exposed not one. but two
OccidentalS. 1t was the first time
in the Korean war that Western
ers had been seen On the Com
munist side and when one spoke
in British accent it seemed at
first that he, or some one, had
made a mistake that somehow
seemed indecent.
Travelled by Truck.
/ The two climbed out of the jeep,
hesitated for a moment as four
United Nations correspondents
stood watching them and then re-
covered their aplomb.
1--WE just came down from Pei
ping" announced one.
He was Alan Wilmington, Al
IyeaF-old correspondent for the
London Daily Worker. The other
was Wilfred Burchett, a reporter
for Ce Soir, a Communist news
paper published in Paris.
They had travelled by truck,
Wilmington said, mostly at night,
and it had taken six or seven days.
They drove down from Pyongyang
last night, he added.
WAS it a rough trip?" some one
asked.
Not at ALL" he lied. Very
pleasant drive"
Riding a truck at night over Ko-
Irea's rough roads is not pleasant.
How was the road?" some one
asked.
THE road was in excellent con-
dition." ;" he said.
(The Communist section Of
the road to Kaesong is eroded
and full of mudholes. The Air
Force reports many bridges
knocked out north of Kaesong
:. .fords are difficult, sometimes
almost impaSsable.)
+ Were you bothered with
Iplanes?"
II didn't notice it," said VIM
nington. Dust is the worst thing. /"
Face Brings Hawks to Mind.
Wilmington is a tall, spare man,
with some gray in his heavy brown
hair. His nose is sharp, his face
brings hawks to mind. He wore a
white silk shirt, tropical worsted
trousers of a lifeless blue color and
what appeared to be CT combat
boots.
/ He smoked a pipe that looked
like Dunhill. To fill it he rolled
rough-cut tobacco between his
palms and carefully loaded the
caked bowl. Frequently it went
out as he talked, and he would
pause to relight it, with Chinese
matches.
Wilmington said he had been
in China for the Daily Worker for
more than three years, Last Au-
Igust, he recalled, he had accom-
panied the North Korean army as
far south as the Taejon area. He
had asked to come to the present
conference.
There is a general feeling in
Peiping," he said in answer to, a
bound to be differences concern
ing the best methods of putting
these principles into effect. When
we attempt honestly and frankly
to work out these differences in
the common interest, no one ma
ton can expect to have its way
completely. But decisions that
are the result of discussions by
many countries have a moral and
political force in the international
community which unilateral deci-
sions seldom have.
Two years ago said that the
first point of our four-point
foreign policy program would be
ito give unfaltering support to
the United Nations and related
agencies" and ito continue to
search for ways to strengthen
their authority and increase their
effectiveness"
The record of our participation
in 1850, set forth in the follow
ing pages, shows that we have not
faltered in our support. I know
the American people are deter
mined to pefseyere in this course.