Evening star., 1953-03-28
Allies Cautious.
But Willing if
Foe Is Sincere
BY the AsSociafed Press

ana at the same Time proposed
immediate resumption of the
suspended armistice talks.
The Reds said such an ex-
change could lead to smooth
settlement" of the entire POW
question, which broke up the
armistice talks at Panmunjon
last October 8.
The POW issue was the only
one left unsolved.
A spokesman here said the
U. N. command could begin an
exchange of sick and wounded
within a matter of days"
Gen. Mark Clark, U. N. Far
East commander who made the
exchange offer February %, said
he would favor resumption of
the talks if the Reds are sin
cere in their acceptance.
Will Study Offer Closely.
Gen. Clark told a reporter to-
night:
I'VE are going to study this
offer very closely. We want to be
sure there isn't anything in it we
don't understand"
The Red move covers only sick
and wounded prisoners-"several
thousand" of the $4,000 Reds
held in Allied camps.
More than $500 are under
treatment at . PuSan hospital
and every POW camp has spe-
cial compounds for sick and war
wounded. Hundreds are ampu-
tees, are blind or have tubercu-
losis or some other disease re-
quiring constant medical atten-
tion.
There were no immediate f1g-
ures on the number Of Amer
leans eligible for such an ex-
change.
It was not clear whether
Communist acceptance of the
proposed exchange depended on
resumption Of the armistice
talks.
The Red answer came in
letter delivered today at Pan
munjon, which also was broad
cast over the Communist Peiping
radio and the North Korean
radio at Pyongyang.
Tone Is COnciliatOry.
It's tone was mild and concilia-
tory, unlike some Of the bitter
invective previously used in criti-
cizing the U. N.
The split in the truce talks
last October came after months
of fruitless haggling when the
U. N. told the. Reds either to
accept an Allied proposal on ex-
change Of POWs. or come up
with an acceptable proposal for
ending the war.
This was the first Red move
since.
It came as the world specu-
lated on the effect the recent
death of Russian Premier Joseph
Stain might have on both the
hot and cold war.
Even as the Red radio broad
cast the message to Gen. Clark,
Americans in Korea were fight
ing furiously to throw back the
biggest Red assaults in five
months.
Signed by Top Officials.
The Communist reply was
signed by North Korean Premier
Kim II Sung and Peng Teh-huai,
commander of Chinese forces in
Korea.
It said, "our side fully
agrees to your sides proposal to
exchange sick and injured priS-
oners of war of both sides dur
ing the period of hostility"
They also suggested the ex-
change could pave the way to
smooth settlement Of the en-
tire question Of the prisoners
Of war "a reference to the
deadlock on exchanging all POWs
which broke up the armistice
talks st Panmunjom last fall.
The Communists have insisted
on return Of all the $4,000
POWs in q. N. camps. but the
U. N. has reported only about
81, 900 of these have indicated
willingness to return to their
homelandS.
3,19S Americans Held.
The Chinese said December 18
they were holding 3,198 Ameri-
can POWS. They also are hold
ing many more South Koreans
plus other prisoners from U. N.
nations fighting in Korea.
The Communist letter said
both sides reached agreement
last year on the question Of re-
patriating the sick and injured
prisoners, but claimed there was
no way to complete arrangements
because the talks were broken
of.
1T was solely because the /.
negotiations were suspended
that there was no way to imple-
ment this agreed provision" the
letter said.
Gen. Clark'S letter offering the
exchange Of sick and injured
prisoners said the U. N. C. ire
mains ready Immediately to re-
patriate those personnel"
"I wish to be informed whether
you are prepared for your part
to proceed Immediately with the
repatriation >" Gen. Clark
asked.