SOUTH KOREA ELECTIONS HAMPERED

Grey River Argus, 11 May 1948, Page 5

SOUTH KOREA ELECTIONS HAMPERED

Communists Cause Campaign of Violence SEOUL, May 9. On Sunday the 1 Soviet radio in South Korea, which part of the country is occupied by the Russian forces, told Lieutenant General John Hodge, the American commander in South Korea: “You had better get out of Korea with your clothes packed.” The Broadcast, which was from “the representatives of all political and , social organisations of North Korea,” ad-nsed General Hodge to abandon the attempt to hold the general elections on Monday in southern Korea. The radio added: “A movement to oppose the election is going full force.” The Russian-controlled Pyongyang radio issued a day-long programme, instructing South 1 Koreans to prevent the election by all means.

VIOLENCE USED TO BLOCK VOTING.

Violence reached a new pitch and tension increased through,out South Korea on Sunday as preparations were completed for to-morrow’s general election—the first in the country's history. Thirty-nine people, including 27 Communists were killed, in political incidents on Saturday. Fourteen were wounded, six are missing and 133 arrests were made. Sixty cases of sabotage, including damage to 24 locomotives and the destruction of 6000 ballot papers, were reported. Terrorists threw a bomb at a Rightist Youth Movement building, 300 yards from the American Military Government headquarters in the heart of the capital.

COMMUNIST PLANS REVEALED South Korean police stated they seized Communist documents containing orders “to cut the telephone lines, strengthen the attacks on the towns, threaten the election officials and villagers, burn the election booths late on Monday to destroy the ballots or, if the booth is too heavily guarded, cast blank ballots or vote for all the candidates.” Violence was expected to reach a climax on Monday. The American forces were standing b”- to act if the situation becomes out of hand. Specially-drafted constables were “alerted” throughout South Korea. Korean jeeps mounting machine-guns and carrying armed policemen patrol the country roads.

Soviet Talk of Evacuating North Korea

The Soviet commander (General Kirotkov) announced on Friday in a letter to the North Korean Labour Party, that arrangements had been made for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from North Korea “to make the American troops withdraw from the south simultaneously.” General Kirotkov’s statement followed a violent stepping-up of the campaign against the United States from the Pyongyang radio. In the course of 24 hours, the North Korean Government broadcast four times that electricity would be cut off in the south. American observers at Seoul said that General Kirotkov’s letter was qualified by its reference to simultaneous troop withdrawals and therefore was not a clear-cut promise of an immediate withdrawal. The Russians will be able to leave freely, because they have created well armed and trained Korean Communist armies, comprising possibly 200,000 men. This forced aided b'”- Russian advisers and a military mission, •makes a Russian occupation force unnecessary.

The best informed circles say that a Russian withdrawal would prove embarrassing to the Americans as it would leave the Korean Communists free to cut off power and attack South Korea militarily, without involving Russia in direct responsibility.

American officials in Washington said to-day that the Russian report was “strictly a squeeze plan” against the United States and was not designed to hasten the creation of an independent, democratic Korean nation.

Officials said the United States had consistently stated that it would withdraw as soon as conditions in Korea permitted and this attitude would not be alered by the Soviet manoeuvres.

They added that the Russians hoped that a withdrawal would leave a state of chaos in Korea, and that the native Communist forces would take over in the confusion.

On Monday, 934 candidates will contest 200 seats in the Representative Assembly. Originally there were 959 but five have been killed Trouble is expected on election day from small groups of Communists who allegedly are responsible for the violence of the past thrert months, in which 500 attacks have been, made on the police, nearly 40’0 people have been killed and wjdesprc/.d sabotage has occurred.

Communists in China Arrest More Priests

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9. A Chinese Communist broadcast, picked up here to-day announced that five Catholic priests were arrested by Communists in North China last October on charges of acting as spies for the United States and Chiang Kai-shek.

In the broadcast, it was stated that the priests had submitted espionage activity and were being dealt that the priests had admitted espionwith by Communist courts. It war alleged that the Catholic Church at Chang Chia-chung was used as a radio station to broadcast information gathered by the .priests.