China Transferring the North Korean Division (2)
2. Looking at the economic situation, China needs to demobilize its army to ease its financial difficulties. On November 15, 1949, during a conversation with the Soviet ambassador to China, Roshen, the government pointed out: "At present, the People's Liberation Army relies on the state to support 4.5 million people, and nearly 1.5 million workers and employees of state enterprises and institutions. "By the end of 1950, with the complete liberation of the country, the integration of provincial troops and local warlord troops into the People's Liberation Army, and the continuous growth of the number of state organs and enterprises, the number of people relying on the national treasury to support themselves will reach 8 million, which is a considerable burden for the country."
In 1949, military spending accounted for 45% of the government's financial expenditure, so demobilisation was inevitable. Under such circumstances, in December 1949, some North Korean soldiers in the Fourth Field Army caused a disturbance and requested to be sent back to North Korea.
It could be seen that the desire of the North Korean soldiers in the People's Liberation Army to return to China was the direct reason for the return of the North Korean troops. At this time, the Chinese army was also recovering. Therefore, it was against the historical facts to view the decision of China to hand over the North Korean troops as a measure to support North Korea's unification of the Korean Peninsula by force.
It must be pointed out that the Chinese government had always opposed North Korea's idea of unifying the Korean Peninsula by force.
In mid-October 1949, the government stated this position in response to Starling's inquiry. On December 16th, during the meeting with Starling, the Tang Dynasty expressed its eagerness for peace.
At the end of March 1950, when the Tang Dynasty met with the North Korean ambassador to China, Lee Chowon, to discuss the issue of the Tang Dynasty visiting China, he said,"If there is already a concrete plan to unify North Korea, then the meeting must be held in secret. If there is no plan to unify North Korea, then we can have a formal meeting with the government."
The Chinese government made it clear that China hoped for a formal meeting, which meant that China did not want North Korea to implement a plan to unify the country by force.
Unlike the Soviet Union and China, North Korea had always hoped to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue by force. As early as March 7th, 1949, during a meeting with Stalin, the government revealed the idea of using military means to achieve the unification of the Korean Peninsula, but it was opposed by Stalin.
On August 12 and 14, 1949, during the talks with Ambassador Shtkov, the government once again raised the issue of having no choice but to unify the country by force. He also said that if we did not do so, the North Korean people would not understand, and we would lose the trust and support of the people and lose the historic opportunity to repay the motherland. We're sure that Comrade Starling, who has always supported the North Korean people, will understand our feelings."
January 17, 1950 ** Requesting Stallyn to agree to the unification plan. According to the American scholar Catherine. According to Katheryn Weathersby's research, by the end of 1949, the government had asked Stallyn more than 48 times to resolve the North Korean problem by force.
The strong desire to solve the Korean Peninsula issue by force made the government view the return of the North Korean troops as an important part of the military preparation.
The archives of both China and Russia indicated that the troops that entered North Korea in July 1949 were the 164th Division and the 166th Division directly under the Northeast Military Region.
The 164th Division had 10821 people, while the 166th Division had 10320 people. The equipment of the two divisions were as follows:
The 164th Division had 5297 long guns, 3456 bayonet, 588 short guns, 320 light machine guns, 104 heavy machine guns, 206 submachine guns, 8 anti-machine guns, 1 automatic rifle, 14 signal guns, 32 grenade launchers, 67 grenade launchers, 87 cannons, 3 rocket launchers, 26 mortars, 12 anti-machine guns, 1 infantry cannon, 1 flat-fire cannon, 2 machine guns, and 734 horses.
The 166th Division had 6044 rifles, 1833 bayonet, 722 handguns, 281 light machine guns, 91 heavy machine guns, 878 submachine guns, 2 carbines, 13 signal guns, 69 grenade launchers, 31 grenade launchers, 91 cannons, 33 mortars, 10 anti-aircraft cannons, 3 mountain cannons, and 745 horses.
The exact number of troops and equipment transferred to North Korea from March to April 1950 is as follows: The total military strength was 14,000, and their weapons were 12,000 rifles, 440 light machine guns, 180 heavy machine guns, 120 pistols, 132 mortars, 72 anti-tank guns, 36 105 howitzers, and some ammunition.
In total, 35,000 people had returned to the country.
In July 1949, two North Korean divisions of the People's Liberation Army returned to North Korea. By August 1, the North Korean army had five divisions and one brigade, with a total strength of 57,000.
From March to April 1950, a division and a regiment of 14,000 North Koreans returned to North Korea.
By the time the war broke out on June 25, 1950, including the newly formed four divisions, North Korea had a total of 10 divisions, one tank brigade, one motorcycle regiment, one artillery regiment, and one anti-aircraft artillery regiment, totaling 175,000 people.
The return of the North Korean troops in the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China to North Korea strengthened their determination to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue by force, but the position of the Soviet Union and China on this issue was not to support North Korea's military unification plan.
It was unfounded to use the agreement of China to return the North Korean division of the People's Liberation Army of China to North Korea as an important basis for the "conspiracy of the three countries".
The article was originally published in the sixth issue of Historical Research in 2006.
Author: Kim Dong-gil, visiting researcher, Institute of Modern History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The editor edited the report.
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