Today marks the 60th anniversary of North Korean troops marching into South Korea, and the beginning of the Korean War (1950 － 1953). Chinese troops were sent in to fight on the side of North Korea, and these soldiers were famously declared “the most lovable” by war reporter Wei Wei.
Today, although not on their front pages, newspapers are still marking the day on their calenders. For example, the CPC-run newspaper Guangzhou Daily devotes a feature to ex-soldiers who had participated in the war back in 1950. An excerpt:
When we talked about the comrades who had perished, the old soldiers’ shed plenty of tears, and everyone made the same wish: “We want to go see North Korea again! To see the places where we fought! To see the graves of the soldiers! To see the comrades who will be buried in a strange country forever….” “We want to see how North Korea has developed.” To walk around North Korea before they die is the strongest wish of all the old soldiers.
Not long ago, when the train to North Korea was opened, their wish became even stronger. But going to North Korea is something that can only be hoped for: “We can’t go… truthfully speaking, we don’t have money!” said one old ex-soldier, sighing. Apart from getting 300 yuan every month as a government subsidy for demobilized soldiers, these old soldiers have no other source of income. These old bodies will also find it hard to walk the door, with dropping energy levels..
The reports also give a background for the conflict:
At the time, the US was producing 8.7 million tons of copper, and China was only producing 610,000 tons. One US division had 959 pieces of artillery, 140 tanks, 3,800 vehicles, the People’s Volunteer Army only had 522 pieces of artillery, and temporally got together 100 vehicles, no tanks, and definitely no command of the sea or of the sky.
But the biggest decision made by the People’s Republic, not yet 1 year-old, was that on the night of October 19, 1950, the four armies and three divisions the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army － all 260,000 soldier, without protection from the skies, left from Andong (today’s Dandong), majestically, proudly, crossing the Tumen River, entering into North Korea, into war…
- Guangzhou Daily (Chinese): We want to see North Korea again!
- Global Times: Soviet interests drew China into Korean War
- Earlier on Danwei: Korean War correspondent Wei Wei passes away