MacArthur to the Commander-in-Chief, North Korean forces: atrocities against prisoners
A typed letter on General Headquarters, United Nations Command letterhead, dated 20 August 1950 and signed by General Douglas MacArthur, addressed to the Commander-in-Chief of the North Korean armed forces. It charges that UN prisoners of war have been murdered while disarmed and bound, and warns that failing to order a stop will be treated as condoning the killings, for which MacArthur says he will hold the commander and his subordinates criminally accountable. The tell: a threat of personal legal liability, addressed to a named rank, on top of a documented accusation.
- Date
- August 20, 1950
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- General Headquarters, United Nations Command (General Douglas MacArthur)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Document
- Issuer type
- Military
- Regime
- Truman Administration
- Leader
- Harry S. Truman
- Audience
- Enemy forces
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- War and the military
- Event
- Korean War
- Techniques
- Fear appeal
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. military work, 1950; Commons PD-USGov-Military tag)
General Headquarters, United Nations Command (U.S. Army); via Wikimedia Commons (File:Korean War US Propaganda Leaflet (letter from Douglas MacArthur).jpg).
Text on the object
GENERAL HEADQUARTERS UNITED NATIONS COMMAND OFFICE OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 20 August 1950 TO : THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF ARMED FORCES OF NORTH KOREA. On July 4th I proclaimed it to be the firm purpose of the United Nations Command to extend to all members of the invading North Korean forces who fall into the hands of the forces of the United Nations the full measure of protection provided by the rules of civilized warfare, and I called upon you in turn to take proper action to insure that the same protection be accorded members of the United Nations Command who fall into the hands of the North Korean Forces. The United Nations Command has faithfully fulfilled its corresponding obligations but uncontrovertible evidence has disclosed a series of revolting atrocities committed by North Korean forces upon United Nations prisoners of war. There is documented proof of many instances in which such prisoners, disarmed and bound, have been brutally murdered by your officers and men holding custodial responsibility for their safety. These are crimes not only against the victims themselves but against all humanity as well. They are crimes which could be avoided by the simple expedient of an order by you to your corps and division commanders in such terms as to make unmistakably clear your determination to stop such atrocities. Inertia on your part and on the part of your senior field commanders in the discharge of this grave and universally recognized command responsibility may only be construed as a condonation and encouragement of such outrages, for which if not promptly corrected I shall hold you and your commanders criminally accountable under the rules and precedents of war. DOUGLAS MacARTHUR.
Read from the 499 x 800 px Commons image; spelling ('uncontrovertible', 'civilized') is as typed. The signature is a facsimile signature above the typed name.
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