KPA Paramilitary Railroad Units, Part 2

["Joseph S. Bermudez Jr." <joseph_bermudez@compuserve.com>]

Korean People's Army Paramilitary Railroad Units, 1946-1953
Part 2

Copyright (C) 2000, by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.

Latest Revision: April 24, 2000



Fatherland Liberation War-25 June 1950

At the time of the 25 June 1950 invasion the units subordinate to the
Security Forces Department could be divided into two broad
categories-security and engineer. Security units included,

- 1st Border Constabulary Brigade
- 3rd Border Constabulary Brigade
- 7th Border Constabulary Brigade
- 5th Railroad Security Brigade
- An unknown number of separate security battalions
- Several coastal security units

Engineer units included,

- "Rear Area Construction Regiment" [2]

An additional engineer unit was established 10 days later, on July 5, 1950,

- 584th Railroad Engineer Regiment

In the wake of the invasion the Security Forces Department was compelled to
undertake another reorganization of its activities in order to cope with its
increased responsibilities and augmented duties. On 2 July the Security
Forces Department was redesignated the Security Forces Headquarters under
the command of Lieutenant General Pak Fun-il. [3] A few days later, on 7
July, this agency was split into two echelons: Security Forces Headquarters
(Forward), and Security Forces Headquarters (Rear). Security Forces
Headquarters (Forward), under the command of Lieutenant General Pak, moved
to Seoul and was tasked with assuming control in liberated areas and
maintaining order and security in the communication zone. Meanwhile Security
Forces Headquarters (Rear), under the command of the former chief-of-staff
of the Security Forces Headquarters, retained control over all security
functions and troops north of the 38th Parallel.

5th Railroad Security Brigade

The exact date of activation for the 5th Railroad Security Brigade is
unknown. It is believed, however, that with the reorganization of the
Department of Internal Affairs during early 1950 the Railway Constabulary
was deactivated and all its personnel were reorganized into the 5th Railroad
Security Brigade. The brigade, like its predecessor the Railway
Constabulary, was responsible for the security of all rail lines and
installations within the DPRK. It had an approximate troop strength of
13,000 and was organized into a headquarters, located at P'yongyang, and
five railroad security battalions, deployed throughout the DPRK.

10th Railroad Security Brigade

On 30 July 1950, shortly after the establishment of the Security Forces
Headquarters (Forward), the 5th Railroad Security Brigade transferred its
headquarters from P'yongyang to Seoul. Here it was redesignated the 10th
Railroad Security Brigade under the command of Major General Lee Nyon. [4]
The five security battalions which up till this time had comprised the
entire strength of the brigade remained in the north, and an additional
seven battalions were activated in Seoul from conscripts and volunteers.
These seven newly-organized battalions were stationed along major rail lines
south of the 38th Parallel, with the mission of guarding and securing rail
communication facilities in occupied areas. In addition to these 12
over-strength security battalions, other units organic to this brigade
included: a signal company, a security company, a transport company, and the
brigade rear services. Each security battalion is believed to have been
composed of four companies (each with four platoons consisting of four
squads), a signal platoon, a medical platoon, a transport platoon, and the
normal rear services found in a rifle battalion. The armament of each
battalion consisted of one heavy machine gun, 16 light machine guns
(distributed one per platoon), and 128 sub-machine guns (two per squad).

[Figure 1. 10th Railroad Security Brigade, 1950]

584th Railroad Engineer Regiment

Although the 584th Railroad Engineer Regiment was officially activated at
P'yongyang on about 2 July 1950, it was organized around an experienced
cadre of Korean nationals who had served with railroad security units of the
Chinese Communist forces and had returned in the latter part of June 1950.
It was tasked with the repair and maintenance of rail lines and bridges in
liberated areas. It was organized into: a headquarters, rear services, and
four battalions with an aggregate strength of approximately 3,000 troops.
Each battalion was equipped with four or five trucks and a few antiaircraft
machine guns, and was composed of four engineer companies. The equipment of
these companies was quite basic and seems to have included no items heavier
than acetylene torches. They were armed with some heavy and light machine
guns and one World War II Japanese rifle per soldier. Since most of the
personnel had no previous engineering experience, a small staff of
approximately 15 KPA engineers was attached to each company to provide
technical instruction and supervision.

Between 6 and 15 July 1950 the regiment departed P'yongyang and headed
south. As the regiment's basic operational units, the engineer companies
were deployed along major rail lines within the sector of responsibility of
their respective battalions. Because of the comparative isolation incident
to such wide dispersion, the companies achieved a considerable degree of
self-sufficiency through the inclusion of certain service elements in the
company structure, while the regimental headquarters located at Seoul were
relegated to a purely administrative role. In late July 1950, two
over-strength battalions, the 5th and 6th, were added to the regiment.
Initially these units were composed entirely of conscripts from liberated
areas under a cadre of experienced personnel drawn from other battalions;
but in time an interchange of troops was initiated between the 5th and 6th
Battalions and the other units of the regiment in order to achieve a more
uniform distribution of these conscripts among all the battalions.

[Figure 2. 584th Railroad Engineer Regiment, 1950]

Operational units of the 584th Railroad Engineer Regiment procured all their
construction materials locally and resorted to simple but effective methods
of repair. Illustrative of these construction methods, a company from this
regiment repaired the bombed out railroad bridge spanning the Kum-gang River
north of Taejon by sandbagging the damaged structure and laying new track
over the sandbags. This method was apparently effective, for the bridge
remained operational until it was recaptured by United Nations Command (UNC)
forces in September 1950. Most of the repair work was accomplished by pools
of conscripted civilian labor, while engineer personnel of the regiment were
only utilized in a supervisory or technical capacity. A guard detail,
usually of platoon strength, was stationed at each repaired railroad bridge,
presumably for security purposes and as a maintenance and emergency repair
team in case of future damage. The regiment appears to have sustained
considerable casualties in the execution of its mission as a result of UNC
interdiction aircraft. On 10 July, for instance, elements of the regiment
undertook the repair of the vital railroad bridge across the Han River near
Seoul. The project was completed in a record three days and the regimental
commander received a personal decoration, but in the process the unit
suffered heavy casualties from UNC air attacks, the commander of the 3rd
Battalion was killed and the regimental commander was wounded. Later, too,
the regiment ostensibly established a high record of efficiency; in
September 1950 the entire 1st Battalion was commended on its performance
record in maintaining the rail line between Choch'iwon and Kumch'on.