But after some casual chats about the Korean War with an elderly overseas Chinese some surprising inside information has come to light.
Mr. Zhang is nearly 80 years old. He was working in the propaganda department of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee when the Korean War started. Zhang recalled that, when faced with invasion, South Korea asked for help from the United Nations. The US led hastily mobilized United Nations troops to repel the North Korean army.
Kim Il-sung asked for help from Stalin. Stalin, however, did not want to face the United States, and suggested: “The issue in the East should be resolved in the East. Ask Mao Zedong.” “These were the original words passed to us at that time,” Mr. Zhang recalled.
“Mao Zedong asked for advice from his generals, but none agreed with entering the war. They said China was poor after so many years of war and should not fight anymore.”
“Mao Zedong talked with Premier Zhou Enlai after the meeting, saying that China had too many soldiers, nearly 10 million and many of them were former Kuomintang (KMT) troops who had surrendered. ‘What are we going to do with those people? We can send them to Korea.’ Zhou agreed.”
Zhang was told all this by a general during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when Zhang was framed and imprisoned together with the general. This man appreciated and trusted Zhang. No one has dared to publicize this news until now. The General is still alive; hence Zhang asked that his name not be mentioned.
“Chinese troops quietly crossed the Yalu River into North Korea and started fighting with the UN troops. Only then did Mao Zedong announce China was in the war.”
“By the end of the war, many Chinese soldiers had died. China’s official figure was 152,000. But Deng Xiaoping told Japanese Communist Party leader and Kang Sheng, the head of China’s security and intelligence apparatus told Enver Hoxha of Albania that 400,000 Chinese soldiers died. Official documents of the Soviet Union stated that China’s death toll was one million. A former KMT army corps in Yunnan was sent to Korea, and very few came back,” Zhang added.
Zhang said the main force of Kim Il-sung’s People’s Army was China’s military. Kim Il-sung was a division commander in Lin Biao’s army in China’s Northeast region (Lin Biao was a famous Chinese Communist military leader). He asked for weapons and people to help him in his bid for South Korea. The CCP gave him three divisions to compose the Korean People’s Army and also provided weapons and food.
When the UN forces commanded by MacArthur landed in Inchon, the Korean People’s Army was defeated with less than 30,000 people out of 100,000 returning.
After the war, Fang Hushan, leader of one of the three divisions given to Kim Il-sung returned to China and was punished for losing the war and labeled as an anti-revolutionist.
Read the original Chinese article.
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