From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General (Memories of War) [Paperback]

Paik Sun Yup (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1999 | Series: Memories of War

Brassey's presents the candid and revealing wartime memoir of the twenty-nine year-old man who became South Korea's first four-star general. With photographs and a foreword by the commanders of U.S. forces in the war, Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway and Gen. James A. Van Fleet, FROM PUSAN TO PANMUNJON brings an unprecedented perspective to a cataclysmic war.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Engrossing wartime memoirs... impressive and instructive." - Kirkus Reviews" --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

"A frank and detailed account by one of the most prestigious officers in the Korean War. It is not only accurate but fascinating because of General Paik's outspoken revelations of his personal relations with President Rhee and Generals Walker, Ridgway, and Van Fleet. For any history buff yearning for the inside story . . . . Paik's book is must reading." -- John Toland, author of In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950-1953

"This is the first major South Korean interpretation of the conflict to be translated into English, and thus fills a void in the literature."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc.; Reprint edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574882023
• ISBN-13: 978-1574882025
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #747,485 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Korean War from the neglected South Korean Perspective, April 4, 2005

By 

E. Kim "wangkon936" (Newport Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General (Memories of War) (Paperback)

I'm glad I found this gem of a book. I've read more then a few Korean War books and they take a decidedly American point of view. It's not to say that this is wrong, but it's certainly unbalanced. Many of these other books go on to describe the ROK army as cowardly, unreliable and prone to breaking. Finally there is a Korean commander that puts the record straight.

Yes, it was true that the ROK army at the time were not up to American Army standards, but it's not fair to put the same expectations on them. It doesn't take a genius to know what happens when militia goes against a heavily equipped professional army head-to-head in the open field. Militia loses every time, just look at how the British man handled continental armies in the first few years of the Revolutionary War. In 1950 the ROK army was the equivalent of a militia as it was very much under equipped, with no armor, air force and very little artillery (some 60mm and 80mm mortars and a few light 105mm pieces).

The U.S. had purposely left the ROK army under equipped and it was designed from the ground up as a lightly armed anti-guerilla force. The ROK army had a very poor junior officer corps, there was not school to train junior officers. The U.S. was too preoccupied in rebuilding Japan and sent very limited funds to South Korea. Proper equipment was not sent, no school for junior officers was established. Anyone who knows something about military matters knows that the backbone of an effective army are the junior officers, the lieutenants, captains and majors that lead the troops into the teeth of enemy fire. The North Korean Army (NKA), on the other hand, had an effective junior officer corps because many of the veterans were anti-Japanese guerilla fighters. Furthermore, the Russians supplied NKA with T-34 tanks, YAK fighter bombers, 155mm artillery, etc. Heavy artillery, tanks and close air support gave the NKA heavy offensive power.

It is not mentioned very often, but American trooped faired NO BETTER against the NKA during the first few months of the war. 24th ID troops ran from their positions when their antiquated WWII era bazookas just scratched the paint off NKA T-34s. It was carrier based air power that saved the Americans from being overrun.

General Paik tells stories of desperate battles, where ROK soldiers wrapped satchel charges around their bodies and threw themselves in suicide missions onto NKA tanks. ROK soldiers did the best they could with the weapons and training they had on hand. General Paik provides a fair and often underappreciated reason for why ROK units faired badly in the early part of the Korean War. As far as I'm concerned, any student of the Korean War cannot consider himself a expert unless he's read Paik's book. It is wrong to not put into consideration the viewpoint of the nation that contributed the most manpower and had the most casualties of all the UN forces. No Korean War library can be considered complete without this book (how many Korea War books have a glowing foreword by Mathew B. Ridgeway himself, huh?).

General Paik Sun Yup was the 29 year old commander of the ROK 1st division. The 1st ROK division had the distinction of the only ROK unit that never retreated from their positions without orders. It was also the only ROK unit that was attached to a U.S. Army Corp for the duration of the war and given tasks expected of a regular U.S. infantry division. General Paik was adamant about the fact that given the proper artillery, armor and air support, the 1st ROK division always performed as well, if not better then any regular U.S. infantry division. The 1st ROK also had the distinction of being the first UN unit to enter Pyongyang, beating several better equipped U.S. units in the race to the NK capital.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A different perspective on the war in Korea, May 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General (Memories of War) (Paperback)

General Paik's work stands out among the many works on the Korean War because of his focus on the operations of the Republic of Korea (ROK) forces. Highly recommended to readers looking for information that goes beyond the American contributions to the struggle. The operational details and accounts of the interaction of American and ROK commanders are fascinating. The book suffers slightly from a lack of detailed maps that assist readers in following the movements of the oppossing forces.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Same War, Different Angle., March 28, 2007

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General (Memories of War) (Paperback)

This is a fairly important book to anyone interested in the Korean War. General Yup was South Korea's first four star general and was a field commander of various units during the war.

What makes this book important is that it covers the same war as many other books, but that it is written not from an American viewpoint but from the view of a soldier whose country was being attacked. This has made the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) through its Institute for Land Warfare put this title on their list of books that should be kept in print for study by AUSA members and others concerned about important issues.

This book was first published in 1992, the copies being sold by Amazon are reprints of the original book.