Korean War and Geoje POW Camp

In the briefest summary of the institution of the POW camp on Geojae-do...

North Korea forces, crossing the divisional 38th parallel at multiple points, invaded South Korea in a surprise attack on June 25, 1950. Three days later Seoul was taken, and the North Korean forces pushed southward. Battles rages between the brother countries and in the early part of the war, North Korean forces had the South Korean army on the run. However, with the United Nations and U.S. forces joining the South Korean side and the General McArthur-led Incheon invasion, the South then began to push back. Communist China then joined the North with 1 million troops halting the push but not halting the war. With the progression of the war, hundreds and hundreds of North Korean soldiers were taken, and the question of what to do with the prisoners became a problem. Not nice to be told but as a reality of war, many were shot and buried hastily in mass graves but with the progression of war accommodations had to made for those who had been captured. 

In 1951, because so many POWs were being taken and because there was a need for them to be held in a secure place well away from being taken by the attacking North, a POW camp was built in the Gohyeon and Suwol area of Geojae Island. The POW camp eventually accommodated 173,000 prisoners with 20,000 communist Chinese and 300 women.

 

 

 

 

North Korean Invasion of the South

At 4 a.m. on Sunday morning of June 25, 1950, the North Korean army launched a massive surprise attack across the 38th parallel and "committed an iniquitous invasion of South Korea" (signboard in the camp).

"On the day the war broke out, the UN Security Council was convened promptly. It passed a resolution to create the United Nations Command on July 7, 1950 and General Douglas MacArthur was appointed Supreme Commander two days later. Combat troops from 16 friendly countries joined the UN Forces and 4 countries sent support troops for medical assistance and related areas. Thus, the UN Forces along with the Republic of Korea Forces fought against the enemy to protect the freedom and peace of this land."

 

Dioramas of the Korean War

Division between the North and its allies (left) and the South and its allies (right)

North Koreans invading the South

South Koreans setting up defense zones and fighting back

As the ROK army is forced to retreat because of superior forces from the Chinese army which joined the North, refugees desperate for safety endeavored to cross the Daedong River.

History of the Korean War

 

POWs of the Korean War

As the number of prisoners increased exponentially, the UN Command began planning to build an additional prison camp outside of Busan No. 1 prison camp. Geoje Island and Jeju Island were both considered as candidates, and soon a camp was built on Geoje Island and called "Operation Albany" (30 Dec 1950).

North Korean soldiers, Chinese officers and soldiers, and females prisoners were contained there. 

• 22,604 communist POWs were held in the camp (total)
• 14,704 Chinese
• 7,900 North Koreans

The POWs were a major factor in the Korean War not reaching armistice long before the 1953 date. Truce talks were first held on July 10, 1951, but were deadlocked because of the POW problems—how to treat them, how to repatriate them and whether repatriation should be forced or allow the POWs to choose the country (North or South) where they would remain. The option of choice was the biggest controversy—the North demanded the return of all POWS, the South preferred giving the POWs freedom of choice.

If I the blogger am reading the signboard correctly, 359 Korean and UN soldiers who had been taken prisoner during the war refused repatriation. Delegates from the North and the South were to persuade them according to the terms of the armistice agreement, and the persuasion period was to last 120 days at the DMZ under the protective custody of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Committee. However, only 30 days later due to the delay on the communist side, the term of persuasion ran out on December 23, 1953. The train below symbolizes the last train heading back to the North with soldiers having to make their FINAL desperate decision at the station about staying or leaving ... with no chance of ever reversing that decision!

The POW camp was officially closed after the release of the anti-communist prisoners by the South Korean government in 1953 and the armistice agreement on June 27th, 1953. In December 1983 the camp grounds was designated as South Gyeongsang Province Cultural Treasure No. 99, and since has been remodeled into the Geojae POW Camp Park where visitors can learn of the lives of prisoners, see dioramas of the Korean War and artifacts of the prisoners themselves—their clothing, weapons, how they entertained themselves, and even how their choice of weapons within the camp as there were frequent battles between the “anti-communists” and the “communist” prisoners, carry-overs from the Cold War era.

The last remaining structure of the Geoje POW camp that remains today.