CIA IN KOREA 1946 - 1965 VOLUME I

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06146212
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: July 13, 2023
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2022
• Case Number: F-2018-00932
• Publication Date: July 1, 1973

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CIA IN KOREA
1946 - 1965
VOLUME I
AirForce/HaastKorean War 51-53
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.This emphasis on the collection of tactical informa-
tion with its exposure of agents meant that OSO oper-
ations and activities in Korea did not fulfill long-
.
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range requirements.
11111111111111111was a major OSO project originated
at the direction of the military theatre commander,
which supported the Army by gathering tactical in-
%formation. Koreans were recruited and dispatched via
sea landings on the east coast of Korea north of the
38th. Parallel. A number of the agents
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-were later captured by North Korean security forces.--,
A special mission was organized in
� March 1951 to determine the type and virulence of a
reported epidemic in. North Korea, which the latter
was, attributing to germ warfare. Brigadier General
Crawford Sams of the Fk Public Health unit was in-
filtrated behind enemy lines. 'General Sams was put
� ashore by whaleboat and raft south of Wonsan. This
mission was more dangerous than usual because the Won-
san area was on the alert, having detected lights at
sea. The mission was successful and the disease was
'identified as hemorrhagic siallpox. Both Sams and
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the Commander in Chief, Par East (CINCFE) were im-
pressed with the speed and efficiency of the CIA
operation and commended personnel engaged
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in the mission.
OSO 1111111111personnel in Pusan also concen-
trated on forming and reactivating agent networks
during the evacuation of Seoul: radio personnel,
were dispatched to Pusan
to serve as communication links with existing MD
111111111nets in Seoul and Pyongyang. Efforts to
contact stay-behinds in the North Korean areas con-
-- tinued. Line-crossers were also used extensively in
the gathering of ta:Ctical information on enemy forces
in'the battle areas. agent
personnel were used in the collection of this ma-
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terial.
The UN offensive in Korea to the 38th Parallel
lessened the urgency for stay-behind networks for
activities north of the Parallel.
�
interrogation team was organized in Pusan to inter-
rogate prisoners and refugees.
In late 1951. the field concentrated on trying
to eliminate peripheral activity and on developing
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position on the basis of his. loyalty to Rhee and his
assistance in establishing the Liberal Party.*
An ipdieation of the volume of reporting from
Korea during 1951 was reflected in statistics which
showed that from 1 November 1950 to 31 October 1951,
41111Ordports were disseminated.... Of that
number, alkwere considered of interest to the mili-
tary command. Of these, SO percent 1111110 dealt with
military or tactical information, 30 percent imp
with North Korean political information, 15-percent
gm with economic intelligence, and 5 percent a,
with biographic data. The reports not disseminated
to the command dealt with ROK politics, CE informa-
tion, or subjects in which the military command was
65/
not interested.
H. OPC Objectives and Activities
Arrantements for OPC operations in FEC were not
made until the late spring of 1950 and consequently
OPC was not operational in Korea at the outbreak of
the conflict. The mission of OPC, which was estab-
lished by the NSC in NSC 10/2 (later 5412/2), was to
* For further details 411.11111111.see Attachment A-4.
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plan and execute special covert operations such as
political, economic, psychological, and guerrilla
warfare. Unlike.OSO, OPC was not an intelligence-
gathering group. In theory OPC also did not formu-
late policy but implemented the policies determined
by the NSC as interpreted by the .Department of State
and the Department of Defense And was under the guid-
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ance and instructions of these two departments.
The OPC base of operation 41111111111111111111111.
was a field head-
quarters for Korean and other Far Eastern operations.
The.outbreak of the war in Korea imposed on CIA
broad responsibilities in the covert field. Great
pressure was exerted by the militiary services to
provide covert suppilrt to the tactical situation
through the provision of agent assets for guerrilla
warfare and evasion and escape. There was also pres-
sure on CIA to establish long-range assets in North
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OPC plans to use Han's assets in the Wonsan area for
staybehind guerrilla warfare. Later these assets were
used in the mission's
first large resistance guerrilla operation.
After the Inchon landing and other UN military
successes in late September 1950, all military, and
diplomatic headquarters moved from. Pusan to Seoul.
Several OPC personnel also moved
to Seoul in September and in October it was decided
to close Pusan and establish OPC headquarters, Under
41111111111hacting chief, in Seoul. 411111111111M
111111111111111111111.111.0 New staff members, including .two
communications specialists, arrived to bolster the OPC
operation.
In- late October an OPC base .of operations was
also established in Pyongyang underellilliella
11111111111.who .concentrated on a .ground approach to
liberate US prisoners of war (POW's). 11111111.1111and
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city only one *day before it was abandoned.
1111111.11111111111M.111111�11111111111111111.
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on staybehind programs with emphasis on support of
organized resistance from which pilot programs of
EE, sabotage, and guerrilla warfare could be developed.
Stress was placed, therefore, on developing an EE
program based on general resistance groups which it
was believe,d wciuld have greater ability to receive
local support and to stay behind the lines � indefinitely.
Approximately OM. was requested in September
1951 for arms and equipment to supply CIA-sponsored
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Korean guerrillas.
� According to an agreement with EUSAK G-3 (McGee),
North Korea, was divided in 1951 by a north-south line
through the center with guerrilla responsibility in the
western half falling to EUSAK�G-3, while the eastern
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half was assigned to CIA (OPC). From January 1951
to April 1952 CIA representatives briefed EUSAK G-3
controlled guerrilla forces operating off North Korea's
west Coast in EE requirements and techniques. One
OPC representative during the summer of. 1951 was as-
signed to the island of Paengyong-do as an advisor on
EE techniques. In addition to the guerrilla units .he
also collected agents and trained them in the estab-
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1,ishment of EE nets.�
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Among the claimed accomplishments of this guerrilla
program were the destruction of four bridges, five
factories, a railroad station, a warehouse, and a
transformer station. At least 600 casualties were
inflicted on the enemy.�
MN The 8086 AU of the G-3 Miscellaneous Group was
set up to encourage, direct, and control guerrilla
activity in the coastal regions of western .North Korea.
five intelligence services,
G-2, G-3, Air Force, ROK/ONI and CIA, engaged in con-
ducting covert activities without any coordination.
four other services and.principally the
8086 AU under McGee had created such a "hodge-podge"
of insecure, inefficient resistance-guerrilla programs
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that existing assets could not be used for secure post-
ceasefire activities. Some agents were even being used
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simultaneously by two or more agencies. �
A maritime support operation was developed in
early 1951.
The vessels, cap-
tured a number of enemy boats, together with crews, pas-
sengers, cargo, and documentation, established safehouses
in the Sipuiju-Antung area, and operated as supply ves-
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sels for advance EE bases.�
� In the summer of 1951 CIA urgently needed safe in-
filtration routes into North Korea to supplement aerial
resupply. Allinikraider team was recruited and trained
by a Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) specialist dux
ing July and August 1951. Between -August 1951 and Octo-
ber 1952 this team carried out Illiamphibious reconnais-
sance and raider operations along the east coast of North
89/
Korea. 411110successful landings were made.*
J. OSO-OPC Relations
Unlike a Aumber of other CIA stations, there is
* For additional information on maritime operations see
CSHP 71, History of Maritime Activities .Korea '(1950-1956).
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October 1951 attended by representatives of CIA, G-2,
FEC, and G-2, Eighth Army, Ridgway, CINCFE, on 28 No-
vember 1951 ordered the establishment of Covert, Clan-
destine and Related Activities in Korea, better known
as CCRAK (later CCRAFE) Headquarters at Seoul. The
purpose of CCRAK was to achieve better coordination
among the various US intelligence services .that were
active in Korea.
The letter order published by CINCFE dated
28 November 1951, establishing CCRAK, stated that
the Korea CIA mission (JACK) would come under the
command of the commanding officer, CCRAK, for those
operations in the field of NSC 10/2 activities and
intelligence that were in "direct. support of combat
and intelligence of US Forces in Korea." The words
"direct support of combat operations" were'signifi:
cant since CIA interpreted this to mean that long-
range unilateral Fl operations under NSCID/5 were
the sole responsibility of CIA and excluded from
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CCRAK control. �
Under the general staff supervision of the As-
sistant Chief of Staff, G-2, FEC, CCRAK Headquarters
assumed direction of all clandestine activities of
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the Army, Navy, Air Force, and CIA in Korea in direct
support of combat operations of US forces. Guerrilla
operations in Korea remained a staff responsibility
of the G-3, Eighth Army. Provision was made in the
letter order for preserving the organizational in-
tegrity of members units "to extent required." In
the case of CIA, the channel of command wa's to con-
tinue to proceed from the Senior Representative*
to the chief of the Joint Korea
Mission. The Senior Representative!s .approval was to
_ be required.for CIA participation in any "joint task
force" operations mounted by CCRAK. The chief of
CCRAK was initially Colonel Washington Ives. The
chief of the CIA mission, Korea, became deputy chief
100/
of CCRAK, in addition to his CIA duties.
The formation of CCRAK was, viewed by Headquarters
as well as the field, as a continuation, of the strug-
gle by G-2, FEC,.to control CIA activities in the
area in such a manner as to_preclude.the performance
of clandestine tasks clearly within the jurisdiction
of CIA. Station officers believed there was no rea-
son for the existence of CCRAK in the first place and
that G-21s authority to coordinate, which' it possessed
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was also initiated. This resulted in better coordi-
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nation of station activities.
In March 1952 the Korea Mission (JACK) had moved
its main headquarters to the Traymore Hotel in Seoul.
The magnitude and complexity of the CIA installations
in Korea in October 1952 were reflected in the total
physical plant which included four major installations;
Joint Korea Mission at Seoul (JACK) and the Seoul, In-
chon, and Pusan bases, plus 77 training or launching
or reception points, offices or safehouses,Illvessels
of varying sizes and a staff of Illnindigenous per-
Sonnel. This staff of indigenous employees later rose
in number to approximately 11.11 by July 1953. In
October 1952 there were", Americans with an admini-
strative and housekeeping staff of 11111 Koreans assigned
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to the Joint Korea Mission (JACK).--- In addition to
:.the operations sections, JACK had complete support
facilities, including sections for service and supply,
registry, security, personnel; reports and require-
ments,.medical, finance, and mess and billeting.
The Seoul Operating Base, which existed prior
to the move .of the Joint Korea Mission to Seoul, played
a more restricted role after the transfer. This base
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had a staff ofillAmericans and 11Koreans. It ran
Projects
* The cover desig-
nation of the Seoul Base was changed in May 1952 to
Far East Command Department of the Army Research Unit
(FB/DARU) from the Department of the Army Liaison
Detachment (DALD).
Inchon Base, developed primarily to provide as-
sistance and support to the EE program for the west
coast of Korea, was located nine miles southeast of
Inchon
This base, which had a
staff of Americans, was concerned particularly with
the 1111111111 and 11111111.projects.** The goal of
these IS projects was to contact and recruit agents
in.North Korea for the purpose of establishing EE
nets for downed UN airmen.
The Pusan Base, formerly headquarters for the
* These projects are described in detail in CSHP 339,
Infiltration and Resupply of Agents in North Korea
(1952-1953).
** These EE projects are described in detail in
CSHP 339; 'Infiltration 'arid Resupply of Agents' In
North Korea '(l952-3153);
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into North Korea were low level and possessed only a
minimum of resistance training superimposed on a
background of guerrilla warfare for which they were
more suited and inclined.
During 1952 and 1953 approximately Opercent
of the teams launched into North Korea failed to make
any report whatsoever. At the end of 1952,
radio-
contact teams were operating in North Korea, 11111,of
which were holdovers from 1951. After the July 1953
Armistice only IIIIIagent radios were contacted. As
of 1 January 1954 this number had diminished to
144/
and all were believed to be enemy controlled.
11111111. Chief, Intelligence Branch, stated
in September 1952 that the mission's EE teams had
almost no chance of success, the cover was almost
uniformly bad, the mission was vague and indefinite,
the problem of communication had not been properly
solved, the agents were going in with articles of
clothing and equipment which would blow them, and
they did not understand the nature of resistance work.
He predicted that they would be- captured in.a very
short time and that the majority of them would be
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All of the resistance programs also suffered,
because of the inability of the
Korea Mission to get documents reproduced by the TSS
unit 411111111111111. The severe North Korean winter also
-limited many of the unconventional warfare operations,
particularly those of OPC to those few months with a
favorable moon phase, and in the case of air or sea
infiltrations to lavorable climate conditions. -The
necessity to communicate through interpreters also
,
affected almost every aspect of recruitment, training,
planning and control for unconventional warfare
projects.
The failure to employ in Korea the extensive
experience gained in guerrilla warfare during World
War II was reflected particularly in the inadequate
/-
air support for the Korea Mission during the war.. It
is estimated that approximately 11Pi agents were de-
ployed into North Korea by air from 1951 through 1952.
\At times the CIA agent was only one of several drops
to be made during an Air Force flight, which also .made
flare and leaflet drops, thus compromising the security
1 of the agent. The Air Force provided one flight, called
B-flight, to support various intelligence activities.
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Crew members, however, were never taught the finer
techniques of clandestine air support. Little stress
was placed /oil accuracy of altitudes, speeds, and drop-
ping. The main aim was to get in and out of North
Korea regardless of the quality of service rendered.
The main technique was to penetrate during the
moon phase in clear weather and make drops. on a light
pattern. Since the same technique was used during
every moon phase, a defense of hill watches was set
up, and numerous fires in various type patterns would
appear on the ground whenever a plane flew overhead.
As a result, air crews were dropping supplies and
even personnel without any certainty that they were
over the right drop pattern and not a trap. Many
.tons of rice and other items as well as 111111111111.111
personnel were dropped into North Korea-from 25 June
156/ .
to 27 July 1953.
T. Criticism of Coverage of South and
North-Korea (1952)
� The Rhee government increasingly became a one-
man show operated along personal dictatorial lines.
Rhee!s position had strengthened considerably, partly
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information which would please their American cus-
tomers. All too often the case officer dealt with
the principal agent and accepted the operational data
without further investigation. There was, for example,
"no shred of information supporting the existence of
11111111eso-called strategic penetrations, "which
included purported high-level North Korean officials
�187/
and military officers.. gestated further that
1111111111 intelligence was not only fallacious, but
his trading with the enemy was an immense financial
benefit .to them since his American intelligence con-
nections served.to- facilitate widespread traffic in
narcotics amounting in value probably to many mil-
.188/
lions of dollars.
CIC's knowledge ofggligle commercial activi-
ties was so.extensive,111111111.111111111 that the
former CIC commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel.
Barrows, would not allow any cooperation by his organi-
zation with the Korea Mission. Only with his depar-
ture was it possible to develop a cooperative rela-
'1'89/
tionship with CIC.-
1111111111111 Pm Chief in.Korea from July.1952.to
August 1953, has also stated that
the large majority of the intelligence
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gathered in 1952 and 1953 through infiltra-
tion and exfiltration operations was fabri-
cation or controlled by the North Korean and
Chinese Communist Forces security.services.
The remaining intelligence not so exposed
was low level by CIA standards of that .
period. 190/
4111111Walso stated that although the Agency
had the responsibility for clandestine operations in
support of EE of downed UN airmen and POW's from
North Korean territory, no airman or POW, was known
to have been assisted by CIA-sponsored clandestine
mechanisms.
chief of the Korea
Branch (FE/I) in Headquarters, expressed similar views
in a January 1954 report:
staff officers ... agree emphatically that EE
operations as conducted by CIA in Korea were
not only ineffective but probably morally
reprehensible in that.the number of lives lost
and the amount of time and treasure expended
was enormously disproportionate to attain-
ments therefrom. 191/
:In addition, insofar as the Korean experience was il-
lustrative, special mission .groups, special action
teams, and caching missions also proved ineffective
192/
and wasteful both of personnel and funds. One
of the greatest deficiencies in the Korea Mission's
program, to attempt to convert
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guerrilla warfare assets. into resistance assets.
"The lesson learned was not to use burned assets what-
1.93/
ever the 1:)evi.ous investment in them."
The Agency had spent, over a. 4-year period,
some11111111111 on unconventional warfare activities
in Korea under the umbrella of Project ...1k Al-
though in the early stages of the Korean VIT.ar some
operational successes resulted from activities carried
on under this project, in the later stages of the war,
and particularly after the battlefront solidified- and
enemy security increased, there was little appreciable
effectiveness from� the substantial sums spent and the
numerous Koreans sacrificed in what proved to be a
basically futile attempt to set up resistance cells
and EU. capabilities in North Korea. . Consequently,
nearly all of the activities covered by 11111111were
terminated, with only a few transferred to. formalized
individual projects, and on 30 June 1955 Project."
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III. was terminated.
To cite a few of . the failures in subprojects
conducted resistance activities,
*For additional information see CSHP 339.
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