ORDER TO RETREAT

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 September 1950, Page 5

ORDER TO RETREAT

(From Alex Valentine, N.Z.P.A.Reuter Correspondent.)

SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Rec. 11 a.m.) —The North Korean leader, Kim Sung, has ordered his troops to break off contact with the United Nations forces and retreat north of the 38th Parallel. An authoritative source said that American intelligence agents had intercepted a top secret order from the Communist leader to his field companies, telling them that they must got as many men as possible into North Korea, taking their arms and equipment with them.

The order added that the withdrawal was to be made in as orderly a manner as possible and that on no account should the United Nations forces be allowed to dislocate the movement northward. American intelligence officers wore at first doubtful of the authenticity of the intercepted order, but recent events on the Korean battlefields, combined with the reported peace moves, appear to prove that it is genuine.

There has been no serious resistance Io Ihe (Toiled Nations troops in Korea in the last week, except at Seoul, which was defended at any costs in an attempt to cover the retreat oE the disorganised and disintegrating Communist armies.

Rapid Collapse The rapid collapse of. the North Koreans is still surprising military observers. Only 10 days ago the Communists were themselves on the offensive. A few days earlier their all-out assault had smashed open the northern line of the Pusan “defence box)” which was thfcn ' reduced to about a 100 miles perimeter.

Today the United Nations forces occupy easily half of South Korea and control most of the remainder of the country. The Communist opposition in Seoul was fiercely stubborn for three days but suddenly evaporated last night while the defenders were still in a good defensive position.

The bulk of the Communist troops were out and the signal was then given to the Seoul defenders to join them. Relentless Pressure Lieutenant-General Walton Walker, commanding officer of the Eighth Army, said today: “Our columns will continue to exert relentless pressure to keep the enemy off balance and by encirclement and blocking destroy his equipment, his personnel and his will to fight. Our troops are determined to destroy the North Korean Army or cause its disintegration by surrender.”