ARCS psychological warfare leaflets and unit patch, Korea
A montage from a U.S. Air Force history of the Air Resupply and Communications Service (ARCS): six reproduced United Nations Command leaflets in Chinese and Korean around a central unit patch. One is a Korean and English safe-conduct certificate over General Ridgway's printed signature; the others are Chinese-language cartoons and photographs for Chinese soldiers. The tell: surrender is offered through an official-looking pass, while the other panels pair fear imagery with the claim that Chinese soldiers die in place of Soviet ones.
- Date
- 1951
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- U.S. Air Force Air Resupply and Communications Service (ARCS) psychological warfare
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Leaflet
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Truman Administration
- Leader
- Harry S. Truman
- Audience
- Enemy forces
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Korean War
- Techniques
- Fear appealBandwagon
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. Air Force work; Commons USGOV-PD tag)
U.S. Air Force, from Air Commando! 1950-1975 (Air Force Historical Research Agency, IRIS 01123922); via Wikimedia Commons (File:ARCS PSYWAR Propaganda Leaflet - Korea.jpg).
Text on the object
안전보장 SAFE CONDUCT CERTIFICATE (partly cut off) Attention U.N. Soldiers This certificate guarantees good treatment to any Chinese or North Korean soldier desiring to cease fighting. Take this man to your nearest officer and treat him on honorable prisoner of war (cut off) Matthew B. Ridgway / Commander in Chief / United Nations Force (printed signature block, partly cut off) 救你的命現在就是時候了 (…)軍官們正在歡慶 這是送來補充你們的精兵 (last character cut off) 中共士兵替蘇俄送(…) 自古以來中國人 / 一向奮勇抵抗北(…) / 的野蠻的異(…)
Safe conduct. Attention U.N. soldiers: this certificate guarantees good treatment to any Chinese or North Korean soldier who wants to stop fighting. Take this man to your nearest officer and treat him as an honorable prisoner of war. To save your life, now is the time. / (...) officers are celebrating. / These are sent to reinforce your elite troops. / Chinese Communist soldiers are being sent [line cut off] in place of the Soviets. / Since ancient times the Chinese people have always fought bravely against the barbarous [peoples] of the north [lines cut off].
Read from a 1280 px reproduction of a montage; every Chinese and Korean fragment is cut by the panel edges or the patch. The English block is fully legible only in its upper lines. Parentheses mark cut-off text; the characters 替蘇俄送 are visible and the rest of that line is not.
