By Andrei Lankov

Perhaps no problem generated by the Korean War caused so much argument and excitement as the "prisoners' question." The plight of Westerners who found themselves guests of the Communists remained a much discussed topic for years after the war was over.

How many prisoners were held by the North? We will probably never know the correct answer, especially as far as South Koreans are concerned. It was difficult to hide Americans or other Westerners in Korea, and everyone missing in action was known by name to the U.N. command. This was not the case for the South Koreans whose life costs little both to their captors and, alas, to Seoul officialdom.

Initially, North Korean propaganda boasted of 65,000 prisoners taken during the first months of the war. The U.N. had approximately 100,000 soldiers unaccounted for. Of course, only a part of these MIAs could possibly be prisoners: most were killed in action but their bodies were never found and/or identified. However, in late 1951 the Communist side admitted to having merely 11,559 prisoners. When asked about their earlier statements, they said the remaining 54,000 had been released after screening. Most likely, the 65,000 prisoners were a propaganda invention, but the number of POWs almost certainly exceeded the officially declared 11,559. The "missing people" were either shot during the chaotic retreat of October and November, or for some reason earmarked as unsuitable for repatriation after the war. Most of the latter were South Koreans, but it is possible that some Americans were secretly transferred to the USSR and China, never to return.

The 11,559 total included 7,142 ROK soldiers and 4,417 U.N. personnel. The latter included 3,198 Americans, 919 British, 234 Turks and a handful of people from other nations taking part in the conflict.

By mid-1951, operations were deadlocked, and the ensuing trench warfare did not produce many prisoners for either side. Only occasionally were some ambushed on patrol, or pilots shot down over enemy territory. Thus, by the end of hostilities the number of captured Americans increased slightly to 4,439.

Among the non-Korean POWs the Americans formed a clear majority. This reflected their decisive role in the conflict. They were subjected to the harshest treatment, especially in the early months of the war when prisoners were made to march northward for days on end, without any break. The weak were killed or left to die on the spot. This led to a very high mortality among prisoners: out of 7,140 Americans captured alive, 2,701 died in captivity. Meaning a death rate of 38%, - almost nine times higher than in Hitler's camps during World War II.

Incidentally, around the same time Western leftists said that Western POWs in the camps enjoyed a better diet than their families back home (of course: they were in Socialist Paradise while their families suffered in Capitalist Hell!). A number of people believed this: it was a time when a good bleeding heart progressive was supposed to love Comrade Stalin and Chairman Mao.

Most of the deaths occurred before mid-1951 when the camps (actually, most POWs were housed in villages) became grounds for intense indoctrination. The efforts were surprisingly successful - at least as far as the Americans were concerned. A very large number of prisoners cooperated with their captors and some of them even officially denounced "U.S. imperialism." Thus, the return of prisoners to the U.S. in 1953 led to an intense soul searching, and also provided an impetus to the hitherto seldom used term of "brainwashing".

The British fared much better, perhaps since they were subjected to less pressure from the captors (after all, the U.K. was seen as a minor imperialist power). The Turks were remarkably tough and un-cooperative. In a sense, they behaved in the same way as the Communist prisoners in South Korea. The Turks formed strong resistance groups and were ready to kill anybody who was seen as excessively sympathetic to their captors.

Out of all the prisoners, the fate of the fellow South Koreans was, probably, by far the worst. While dealing with the foreigners, the captors understood that these people would eventually be released and would tell their compatriots about their experiences. This was not the case with South Koreans who were completely at the whim of their captors.