Re: 50 years ago today - 24 July 1950

["Joseph S. Bermudez Jr." <jbermudez@uswest.net>]

> Question for Joe Bermudez: To what extent was the 766th used in Late July
> around Yongdong? I recall that around late July some 300 guerillas reportedly
> operated between Yongdong and Kumchon. Marty

To the best of my knowledge the 766th was never in the Kumch'on - Yongdong
area. The unit operated further east. The guerrillas in the Kumch'on -
Yongdong area at this time were classified as "Independent Guerrilla Units."
These units were under the control of the Korean Workers' Party Liaison
Department. What follows are two paragraphs from my NORTH KOREAN SPECIAL
FORCES: SECOND EDITION concerning these units during the first few months of
the war.

"Independent Guerrilla Units:  As a result of the early efforts of Pak
Hon-yongıs Kangdong Political Institute, and the subsequent efforts of the
KWPıs Liaison Department, there were approximately 5,000 guerrillas, agents
and sympathizers operating within the ROK at the start of the war. These
were led by a core of some 1,700 specially trained personnel. These
guerrillas were organized into a multitude of independent guerrilla units,
the majority of these units were loyal to Pak Hon-yong rather then Kim
Il-song. This ideological split, however, had no appreciable effect upon
either their operations or there desire to reunify the Korean peninsula
under Communist control. Aside from predominantly southern Koreans,
personnel for these units came from a wide variety of sources including
former members of the PLA, bandits, conscripted civilians, and ROKA
defectors. It should be noted that a number of so-called "Independent
Guerrilla Units" where in reality simply groups of professional bandits who
were exploiting a unique opportunity to obtain weapons and supplies and to
extend their influence.

These independent guerrilla units varied considerably in their composition,
strength, training and efficiency. In general they were comprised of varying
numbers of "battalions" and "companies," with one unit reportedly having 12
"battalions." Personnel strengths range from approximately 50 up to a high
of 3,000 reported for the Chiri-san Organization, which was formed from
elements involved in the October 1948 Yosu mutiny. In general all these
units were loosely organized, lightly equipped and, once assigned an area of
operations, generally conducted operations at the discretion of the local
commander. Few, if any, were known to have direct radio communications with
higher headquarters and centralized control appears to have been limited.
During the first two months of the war many independent guerrilla units
received logistic support not only from local Communist sympathizers but
reportedly from a mountain village in the area of Pohyan-san, located
southeast of Kusan-dong (20 km northeast of Taegu). There is, however, no
evidence to suggest that there was a headquarters located here."

Regards,
Joe

Joseph S. Bermudez Jr.
jbermudez@uswest.net
PGP key available on request