At least one US lieutenant colonel is known to have approved the executions, when he told a South Korean colonel that he could kill a large number of prisoners in Busan if the North Korean troops approached.
Sedikitnya satu letnan kolonel Amerika Serikat diketahui telah menyetujui eksekusi, ketika dia mengatakan kepada seorang kolonel Korea Selatan bahwa dia siap membunuh sejumlah besar tahanan di Busan jika pasukan Korea Utara mendekat.