VILLAGER'S RESENTMENT AGAINST REDS MOUNTS IN NORTH KOREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600280342-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 27, 2011
• Sequence Number: 342
• Publication Date: January 20, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/28: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600280342-1
CLASSIFICATION I.4?A"Tali
CutvilDcivilAl ONF( ?- l JR
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPO 1~
INFORMATION f POM
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
Ilow
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
Economic; Political
Daily newspaper
Seoul
7 Dec 1949
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DATE DIST. -10 Jan 1950
NO. OF PAGES 1
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
VILLAGERS RESENTMENT AGAIlST REDS
liOUNTS IN NORTH KOREA
The following is a recent report received from Pyongan Pukto regarding the
situation in Korth Korea.
The farmers, who at the beginning cooperated with the North Korean Reds
when the land-reform program was first introduced, are now becoming deeply re-
sentfel as they gradually cone to realize the true Communist intentions behind.
that program. While all other landowneru were compelled to give up their lands,
the leaders of the Labor Party, Farmers' League, Youth Corps, etc., kept their
lands and remained rich. The so-called taxes-in-kind take away from the farm-
ere 27 percent of their rice crop and 25 percent of other grain crops. In ad-
dition, all sorts of new taxes have been introduced, and invariably the farmers
bear the largest shard of the b'T.rden. The per-capita labor contribution of 30
days a year for public construction works demanded by the state in compulsory.
Farmers are conscripted to work on river dikes and irrigation works, as well as
in the factories,' mines, etc.
In Pyongan Pukto, in one year, 89 million won were spent and 635,000 per-
sons were put to work on road construction. Many farmers greatly resent such
programs imposed by the Red government. Furtheneore, the steady rise in prices
of daily i.ecesaities, while the values of farm produce, particularly rice, re-
mains static, makes farm life increasingly difficult. Consequently, in villages
where electricity is available, the farmers clandestine listen to the radio
broadcasts from South Korea and earnestly long for the freedom of the south.
The farmers in such localities as Ch'osan, Ch'angsong, and Pyoktong are
desperately poor. In these areas it is not uncommon to find one head of cat-
tle and 1,000 won representing the entire wealth of a village. Consequently,
many farmers are deserting the villages, only to find themselves forced 1Lto
the slave mines or compulsory labor groups.
- 1 -
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/28: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600280342-1