TECHNICIANS IN THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM ZONE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002600890001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 12, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 22, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2002/07/22 : CIA-RDP80-0081OA002600890001.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within themesa-
mesa-
Ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
INFORMATION REPORT to o or or receipt eby transmission an n unauthorized p perserson n is fa prohibited
ohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
CONFIDENTIAL/CONTROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
PLACE ACQUIRED
SOURCE:
25X1A
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
25X1A
22 October 1953
NO. OF PAGES 2
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
25X1X
1. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) uses foreign technicians in its
industrial, defense, and agricultural organizations. Foreign technicians were
used in the various intelligence organizations, but this practice ceased in late
1951. A majority of the technicians are German and Japanese. The former had
been in China and Burma and were recommended by the Southeast Asia Committee of
the Communist Party. The latter were soldiers in the Japanese occupation forces
in World War II.
2. The DRV has technical committees composed of Communist members who are respon-
sible for assigning these foreign technicians to various activities. Vietnamese
technicians such as Luong Ngoc I{hue, a chemical engineer in charge of the Depart-
ment of War Materials Manufacturing of the Ministry of National Defense, who
does not belong to any party, are also controlled by these commnittees.
There is no superior techinical training school in the DRV zone. DRV technicians
are still sent abroad to the satellite countries, particularly to Prague, for
training. When this training is completed, the technicians return to work in
various DRV organizations as assistants. As soon as they have gained sufficient
experience, they assume the direction of the organizations.1
4. Because foreign technicians are scattered throughout the DRV zone and have
assumed Vietnamese names, it is impossible to determine how many technicians
there are. The only reliable information now available is that there are over
20 foreign technicians, mostly Germans, working in the Ministry of National
Defense. There are two to three hundred foreign-trained Vietnamese technicians
in the DRV zone. Some have been forced to join the Lao Dong Party, but many
collaborate with the DRV solely on the basis of nationalism-2
CONFIDENTIAL/CONTROL - U.B. OFFICIALS ONLY
STATE E I ARMY 1 X
Technicians in the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam Zone
AEC
(Note: Washington Distribution Indicated By "X"? Field Distribution B
Approved For Release 2002/07/2: CIA-RDP80-0081 OA002600890001-5
 25X1A
0
25X1A
5. The DRV is also using technicians to help farmers develop better agricultural
methods. Many technicians who have graduated from the French agriculture train-
ing school in Tuyen Quang are used for this purpose. These technicians indoc-
trinate the farmers with Communist ideology to facilitate DRV control.
Approved For Release 2002/07/22 CIA-RDP80-00810A002600890001-5
CONFIDENTIAL/CONTROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Continents
1. Source does not make it clear whether the DRV makes it a practice to replace
the foreign technicians with foreign-trained Vietnamese technicians.
2. Since it is unlikely that the DRV would send students who are not Party
members abroad for training,-the technicians mentioned here presumably
received their training before the advent of the DRV and thus have probably
had considerable practical experience.
CONFIDENTIAL/CONTROL - U.S. OFFICIALS ONLY
Approved For Release 2002/07/22 : CIA-RDP80-00810A002600890001-5