The Korean War, 70 Years Ago, The Press, Pittsburgh PA
Korean War Weekly Front Pages
23 December – 29 December 1951
The Press, Pittsburgh PA
Yet another Christmas in Korea.
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On Sunday 23 December a holiday armistice in Korea appeared almost impossible, but the United Nations still hoped for an early “mercy” exchange of sick and wounded prisoners of war. The UN had appealed for such a pre-armistice exchange, possibly including a captured US major general, but a series of propaganda broadcasts clouded the issues. A United Nations command broadcast accused the Communist truce negotiators of trying “to negotiate for a future war in Korea” by stalling the conference beyond the 30-day trial period for the cease-fire line. Chinese radio charged that America’s “high-handed attitude” in the negotiations had aroused opposition among the British, and said that the UN would only gain the enmity of the world if it insisted on an “absurd” plan for man-for-man prisoner exchange. On Christmas Eve, armistice negotiators agreed to exchange mail between war prisoners and their families, but the Reds rejected General Ridgway’s plea to let Red Cross representatives visit their prison camps. All hope was now gone for getting an armistice before the trail period expired Thursday, and there was no indication yet if the deadline would be extended. But when Thursday came and went, there was no sign that either side planned to take immediate advantage of the end of the cease-fire line to launch a full-scale attack. Not a single American soldier was killed in action on Wednesday.
At the end of the week, UN negotiators offered the Reds five “final” concessions and warned that it would be solely up to them to decide whether there would be peace or more war. The proposal’s points included limited troop rotation; neutral troop observations behind the lines; two directing authorities for truce inspection; abandonment of inspection flights over all of Korea; and rehabilitation of some North Korean airfields for civilian use.
The Communists claimed that at least 726 out of 1,058 missing American war prisoners were dead. The Reds said 571 had been killed by Allied planes or guns or had died of disease. Names of another 332 American POWs missing from the list were being investigated. Late in the week, the UN asserted officially that 450 Allied soldiers the Communists had announced they held as war prisoners were now dead.
President Truman appealed to 650,000 steel workers as “good citizens” not to strike on New Year’s Day. He said a strike would help the cause of the Communist enemy. Mr. Truman made the appeal to the CIO United Steel Workers Union and at the same time referred the deadlocked wage dispute to the Wage Stabilization Board. Late in the week the union agreed to set up hearings in the new year.
(Photo courtesy newspapers.com, Pittsburgh Press)