 It's time for the Lawn Jean Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour brought to you every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, a presentation of the Lawn Jean Wittner Watch Company, maker of Lawn Jean, the world's most honored watch, and Wittner, distinguished companion to the world-honored Lawn Jean. Good evening. This is Frank Knight. May I introduce our co-editors for this edition of the Lawn Jean Chronoscope? From the CBS television news staff, Larry Lusser and Lou Choffee, our distinguished guest for this evening is Horace E. Underwood, chief official interpreter for the United Nations Command at the Panmunjong True Stocks. Mr. Underwood, upon you rest of the responsibility during those frustrating two years of negotiating of interpreting to the North Korean communists when it seemed to us that war and peace were hanging by a single word. Would you mind telling us how you became so proficient in the Korean language? Well, I had a pretty good start at it. I was born there in Korea. My grandfather was a pioneer missionary in Korea, and my father was missionary work, and I've been in missionary work myself. I was in Korea in 1940, 1941 when World War II broke out, was repatriated and joined the Navy. Then after World War II, I went back to Korea, and when the Korean War came out, why, I came back on active duty again right in Korea. So you came by your Korean proficiency naturally? That's right. Well, I wonder if you'd mind telling us how those sessions actually worked out. Perhaps you describe a typical session to us in those Panmunjong True Stents. Well, the usual starting hour was 11 o'clock in the morning. We'd go up there. The delegates on our side would walk in. I don't know how they timed it, but both sides used to walk in almost on the dot with each other. Admiral Joy and later General Harrison would make whatever statement they had to make, and I would get up and translate it into Korean. Another army officer would get up and translate it into Chinese, and General Namil would give his answer. Their interpreters would get up and put it back into English and into Chinese again. So everything had to go through quite a number of steps. Well, Mr. Runderwood, we met before, as a matter of fact, as you remember, outside the tents at Panmunjong for that year and a half or so that I was there. While you were in there, did the negotiators feel any particular pressures from the outside, say American public opinion or communist propaganda? Well, I don't think we were directly affected by the communist propaganda, except insofar as their delaying tactics or the pressure of events back home would sometimes put pressure on us. What kind of pressure? Well, sometimes we felt almost as though we were on two fronts. We had to maintain our position not only to the communists but to the American public at home, and I feel that quite often, for whatever reason, the American public didn't understand what the issues of the moment were. They understood the overall issue but not the issue of the moment, and they would become impatient. I think Americans pride themselves on getting things done, but in negotiations that impatience can be a handicap sometimes. When you were actually up there doing the political campaigns in this country, did you feel any pressure of domestic politics on those negotiations? Well, I don't think there was much direct pressure of that kind at all. We all felt that there might be some new policy, overall policy, if a new administration got in but we had no idea what it would be. Your instructions remained the same. That's right. But tell me, Mr. Underwood, I understand that you also screened those North Korean prisoners of war that took part in the operation of Little Switch, which finally led to the breaking of the ice around the troops. Can you tell us whether any political pressures brought against those North Koreans as charged by the communist radio? No, there were no pressures from the outside at all. Among themselves, I suppose, the violently pro-communist and the violently anti-communist, as I guess Lou knows, he was down there, sometimes broken due fights of one kind or another, but there was no outside pressure on them at all. It was strictly their own choice. Well, how would you explain the Koji-do riots? Well, I think it's been made public knowledge that the communists sent agents down to be captured and to be sent into the prisoner of war camps to create riots, to embarrass the UN command. Well, talking about the prisoners of war right now, we have a situation where thousands upon thousands of North Koreans have gone to explanations and refused to go back to North Korea. Why is this? Well, I think it's a tremendous demonstration of how hateful a communist regime can be. Those are peasant people who stick by the land ordinarily to the bitter end, and yet those thousands of people, after having lived under that communist rule, are willing to abandon their homes and their families and everything to get out from under it. I think it's one of the greatest blows that communism has had since its inception. On the other hand, now we have 300 or so South Koreans who refuse to come back to our side, including those 22 Americans in the one Britain. How do you explain that? I think that's quite easy also. The communists captured, I forget the last figures, but they captured something around 80,000, I believe it was, Korean prisoners, and that the communists could find only 300 and some odd prisoners that they could indoctrinate sufficiently to publicly say they would not go home. I think it's an amazing testimony of how much, how hateful it is to the people. Mr. Underwood, you were in Korea during the Japanese domination, I gather. Well, we know now that the South Koreans don't lack for courage nor inability to master modern techniques as shown by their ability to pick up our training program so quickly. Can you tell me, is there any difference between the South Koreans now and the South Koreans who are under the Japanese domination psychologically? No, except that they're free now under the Japanese. I don't think most people realize how much the Japanese did suppress them. Almost nobody could go to college in Korea under the Japanese. Almost nobody could get any kind of position of responsibility or directorship or anything else. They were very heavily suppressed. And then when they got their freedom, they've had it started to have a chance now to express themselves. And some people feel that they're doing it almost too much, but I think it's a wonderful sign that after the 40 years of Japanese suppression, they can still come out the way they have. You think they're feeling a real release of mental energies? Yes, sir. Mr. Underwood, sometimes I think that Korea is a kind of Poland of Asia since it's caught between two great neighboring powers, Japan and China. Can you tell us which one of these people is the Korean dislike the most, the Japanese or the Chinese? Well, I think that probably emotionally on the individual basis, I imagine they dislike the Japanese more. Right now, when China is run by the communists, they are deathly afraid of and desperately hate the communist regime so that right now China is their greater and more deadly enemy. That's so. Well, by the way, what is the official religion of Korea? Are you a Christian missionary there, naturally? Well, there's no official religion. Actually, Christianity is probably the strongest religion in Korea at the present time. Only about 5% of the people are Christians, but the mass of the people have no religion at all or just kind of an animism and spirit worship, sorceresses and witches and that sort of thing. So the Christianity has become the real leader of the people. Luke can testify that. I think most of the leaders in the government are Christian trained, if not actually Christian men. And I think the imprint and the pressure, the hope of the Christian church in Korea has been one of the greatest salvations of the country in this past trial. Would you say that the Christian religion is actually spreading in Korea? Oh yes, it's spreading very rapidly. They're eager for it. Well, what was the original motivation of our missionaries in going to such a remote place in the world? Mr. Underwood, probably you've heard stories from your own father and grandfather. Well, a basic motivation of all Christian missionaries, of course, is that they should go out throughout the entire world to preach the gospel. In my grandfather's particular case, he was planning to go to India and was looking around for a missionary to send to Korea. And finally it all of a sudden occurred to him that maybe he was the one that should go to Korea. So that's his personal story. But the missionaries feel that the Christian religion, the benefits, the moral and spiritual benefits of Christianity is something that should be taken to everybody. And in Korea especially, it has certainly shown that they are willing and eager to get it. Well, Mr. Underwood, there were some tense moments in Korea. I believe our correspondent, Mr. Toffee, was there during the truce negotiations when they were actually coming to a climax and there were demonstrations outside of the correspondence barracks. I had tremendous demonstrations of students out there. Well, I wanted to ask Mr. Underwood whether he thought that the white people could actually be friends of the Asians, or whether there is really a deep-rooted distrust of all white men? I can't speak for the rest of Asia, but I know that in Korea, white men in general, in America in particular, are their friends. They look to America as their friend. For years, the only imperialism they knew was Japanese imperialism, and the white people were primarily the missionaries out there who were bringing them education and medicine and religion, and there is a deep well of friendship for America in Korea. Do you think there's really friendship or respect? I think it's both. They are very friendly to Americans. They seem to be almost a trite phrase sometimes, but they speak of you who have come 10,000 miles over the sea to help us, and they really mean it. They also have respect for our technique and technology and progress. Mr. Underwood, we know that's true of the Korean people. Do you think the Korean government trusts the United States? That's a little different proposition. They are very grateful for the help that we have given them, Lou. On the other hand, I think the root of some of the present frictions in Korea and America has been that they have been unable to know just exactly where they stood in respect to the United States government. Shortly before the Korean War broke out, the world was told that Korea was going to be written off, and then we came to their help. It's been a changing proposition. Mr. Underwood, as a final question, may I ask you, what do you think are the chances of war and peace in Korea now and in the future? I don't think there will be any final settlement in Korea until the final East-West tensions settle down. They cannot solve it just as a local matter. I don't think the war is going to break out again in the immediate future, but the overall settlement is going to have to wait for an overall East-West settlement. I see. You don't think Korea can be unified until then. Do you think it will continue as a source of tension between the East and West? Definitely. There's going to be continual friction along that border, whether it was the former 38 to the new military demarcation line. You've got the two regimes face-to-face there in Korea, and there's no compromise between them at the present time. And you're going back as a missionary. I want to thank you very much for being here tonight, Mr. Underwood. The opinions you've heard our speakers express tonight have been entirely their own. The editorial board for this edition of the Lone Gene Chronoscope was Larry LeSœur and Lou Choffee. Our distinguished guest was Horace E. Underwood, chief official interpreter for the United Nations command at the Panmunjom True Stocks. Falling snow carolers in the quaint costumes of the 1860s remind us that this year, Lone Gene, the world's most honored watch, will celebrate its 87th Christmas with the most beautiful examples of the art of the watchmaker and the jeweler. It was in the early competitions at World's Fair, as you know, which started Lone Gene on the road to world fame. And as Lone Gene watches won one grand prize after another, great people the world over had to own this celebrated watch. The Sultans of Turkey, the Mandarin of China, the Grand Dukes of Central Europe, and the Millionaires of America. The Lone Gene watches for this Christmas of 1953 are truly magnificent. Each is individually worthy of the awards and honors which Lone Gene watches have won over the years. And each, through personal experience, will demonstrate the greater accuracy for which Lone Gene watches have won prize after prize. And remember, you may still buy and proudly give a Lone Gene watch this Christmas for as little as $71.50. Lone Gene, the world's most honored watch, the world's most honored Christmas gift. Premier product of the Lone Gene Witner Watch Company. Since 1866, maker of watches of the highest character. We invite you to join us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at this same time for the Lone Gene Chronoscope, a television journal of the important issues of the hour, broadcast on behalf of Lone Gene, the world's most honored watch, and Witner, distinguished companion to the world-honored Lone Gene. This is Frank Knight reminding you that Lone Gene and Witner watches are sold and serviced from coast to coast by more than 4,000 leading jewelers who proudly display this emblem. Agency for Lone Gene Witner Watches. This is the CBS television network.