Koje-do was a hell-hole for POWs and guards alike

When North Korean and Chinese Communist prisoners of war weren’t busy killing one another in POW camps during the Korean War they tried to make life as miserable as possible for their guards, especially at Koje-Do. At one point, well-trained POWs even kidnapped the camp commander and held him hostage for 78 hours! The POWS treated their camps like a second combat zone in an effort to pull as many UN troops as they could off the front lines. The Communists set up a well-organized team of saboteurs and provocateurs to infiltrate the camps, create constant havoc in the compounds, stay in contact with their leaders in North Korea and China who were directing their operations from afar, and disrupt peace talks. Many of the prisoners had been captured deliberately to get assigned to Koje-Do, which accommodated 170,000 POWs, and direct the kangaroo courts and murders that plagued the camp administrators, who were combat soldiers, not trained prison wardens. Life at Koje-Do was far from easy for everybody, and the POWs kept up their nefarious revolts for almost two years. If the fighting hadn’t stopped, they wouldn’t have either. Maybe that’s why the story hasn’t been told until now.

Arthur G. Sharp is a historian and author whose published works include 25 books and 2,500 articles and op-eds for various publications. He is also the editor of several military association magazines, including The Graybeards (Korean War Veterans Association), Chosin Few Digest (Chosin Few Inc.) and The Taro Leaf (24th Infantry Division Association). Sharp is a veteran himself, having earned an honorable discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps after a four-year stint. He holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in history from the University of Hartford (West Hartford, CT) and Trinity College (Hartford, CT) respectively.