581st Radio Relay Company at Wonson (1950)
15. North Korean Dead near Beach It is always ghastly for normal people to see dead just lying there. We saw some poor brave defenders who lost their life. It takes a while before you can learn to hate the enemy and shoot them. It helps to learn that when they shoot at you. North Korea is a country of about 18 million people with the 4th largest army in the world. They spend 29 percent of their GNP on the military, which is why the civilian population is so poor. When they split Korea into north and south, North Korea had 95 percent of the manufacturing and South Korea had 90 percent of the agriculture, so both halves suffered greatly. The Chinese army lost one million casualties, the North Korean 500 thousand, and the US Forces about 50,000. Perhaps 6-8 million civilians also died. No one wins a war. But today South Korea is a prosperous country and North Korea is a starving impoverished country with bankrupt economy. Eventual unification will benefit both sides. ⇦ Back to Scene 14 Return to Page 3 On to Scene 16 ⇨ |