Korean Leaflet (2 results)

Black and white photographic illustrations. 8 x 10.5cm. Leaflet faintly foxed and trifle creased, overall in very good condition. A propaganda leaflet issued by the North Korean regime for United Nations forces, encouraging surrender and cooperation with the Korean People's Army and People's Volunteer Army. The leaflet outlines Kim Il-sung's "policy of leniency", and assures that captured prisoners of war will be guaranteed "security of life, retention of all personal belongings, freedom from maltreatment or abuse, and medical care if wounded or ill". Carefully staged photographs of POWs occupying themselves with recreation punctuate the leaflet, implying an idyllic existence vastly improved over active warfare. In truth, the experiences of POWs was invariably harsh and unforgiving, particularly during the winter. While sources confirm that the Chinese treatment of POWs was markedly better than the treatment afforded by the North Koreans, there remain several POW accounts indicating a persistent implied threat of violence, and a widespread disregard of the Geneva Convention.

Black and white photographic illustration with text, lightly browned one small area, horizontal central fold. Good copy. 13.4 x 19.3cm. This leaflet was one of a large number of propaganda documents produced by China and North Korea during the Korean War. Part of a series of black-and-white propaganda leaflets which appear to have been produced by the Chinese People's Volunteers (the People's Republic of China forces supporting North Korea in the war) it aims to convey the message that American prisoners of war were well treated and were in regular communication with their families back home. The printed text assures readers that POWs held by North Korean and Chinese forces will be repatriated soon after the armistice is signed, whereas (warns the leaflet) Allied soldiers from the US, Britain and other nations "will have to stay in Korea until the US Government makes up its mind to leave Korea to the Koreans." The photograph purports to show Mrs Christine Brown, wife of Lt. Col, Gerald Brown reading a letter from her husband, who was a prisoner of war in Korea. Gerald Brown was in the US Air Force. He was shot down over Korea and spent almost 3 years as a prisoner of war. Lt. Col. Brown was in fact a Korean War POW who was later repatriated to the US, but the authenticity of the photo cannot be verified. The leaflets were generally distributed by plane or stuffed into artillery shells, though propaganda from the Northern side was also sometimes left in no man's land to be picked up by US and other forces fighting on the UN/South Korean side.