Evening star., 1954-05-30
Pentagon Hits Reds
For Blocking Probe
OF BuiIdup in Korea
By Robert K. Welsh

BY Robert K. WoISh
Communist members Of the
Neutral Nations Supervisory
Commission for the Korean ar
mistice were accused by the De-
fense Department yesterday Of
"a conspicuous lack of good
faith" in their efforts to prevent
investigation of a Red military
buildup in North Korea.
The Pentagon released a group
of documents, including one from
Swedish and Swiss members of
the neutral" team appointed to
watch for violations of the armis-
tice agreement, charging that the
Czech and Polish members spread
Communist propaganda. made
false charges against the United
Nations Command, and OBJ
structed work Of the commission.
The Swedish and Swiss mem
bers declared that "the United
Nations Command has Loyalty
and sincerely abided by both the
letter and spirit of the armistice
agreement"
Carefully CO-Ordinated.
Accompanying release of the
documents was a statement by
the Defense Department. It
contained no direct reference
to the current pressure in Ge-
neva for an armistice in Indo.
China or the difficulties in ar
irving at a permanent agreement
on Korea.
Pentagon sources indicated.
however, that the departments
issuance of the documents at
this time presumably came only
after most careful coordination
with the State Department and
with Sweden and Switzerland.
In recent weeks the Defense De-
partment and other Government
agencies have given out a series
of white papers" dealing with
Soviet influence in the Korean
and Indo-China wars and the
military buildup in Russia itself.
The Neutral Nations Super
visory Commission operates un-
der the Military Armistice Com
mission for Korea. NNSC men,
berS from Switzerland and
Sweden were chosen by the
United Nations side. and the
members from Communist Po-
land and Communist Czechoslo-
vakia were named by the Com
munist side.
Followed Red Orders.
Prom the outset, the activities
Of the NNSC indicated that the
Czech and Polish members were
not neutral in their approach to
the mission, functions and re-
sponsibilities which they had
solemnly accepted" the Defense
Department stated. 1T soon be-
came evident that the Polish and
Czech members were following
specific line of obstructionist
tactics established and set forth
by the senior Communist men,
ber of the MAC.
"These tactics apparently are
intended to generate propa-
ganda and intelligence oppor-
tunities for the Communists
while serving as a cover to pre-
vent disclosure and investigation
OF the military buildup in North
Korea"
Besides memoranda prepared
by the Swiss and Swedish mem
bers of NNSC. the documents re-
leased by the Defense Depart
ment included a statement of
charges by the Polish and Czech
members. and a letter by Maj.
Gen. j. L. Lacey. senior allied
member of the armistice COM
mission.
Malicious Fabrications.
The Communist members
charged that the United Nations
Command has violated the ar
mistice by building up troop and
weapon strength since the ar
mistice began. In answer. the
Swiss and Swedish members,
Brig. Gen. Ernst Gross and Maj.
Gen. Paul Mohn, concluded:
These are some Of the COM
mentS the Swedish and Swiss
members want to present in or
der to refute allegations which
they consider to be a tissue of
malicious fabricationS. gratuitous
distortions, misleading half
proofs. and delusive insinuationS
without foundation in reality.
The methods resorted to consist
largely in isolating facts and
figures from their proper context
and in making sweeping general
izationS on the basis of premises
thus distorted.
There is no denying that the
United Nations Command has
laid itself wide open to inspec-
ton and observation by the
neutral nations inspection teams
and has never attempted to con-
ceal anything from the Neutral
Nations Supervisory Commission,
not even its mistakes and clerical
shortcomings.