Back in April of 2015 I did a blog in which I described how two young women of United Nations Partisan Infantry in Korea (UNPIK), a highly classified CIA sponsored brigade-sized anti-communist guerrilla unit, parachuted into North Korea in 1952 and engaged in a firefight with a platoon of North Korean soldiers, the In Min Gun. The women, a 20 year old Second Lieutenant Lee, Song Ah and an 18 year old Sergeant Kim, Min Ja, were surrounded by a 18-man North Korean platoon that was dispatched to either eliminate or capture them. They had entered North Korea for the purpose of gathering intelligence information, which they had done, but were discovered by the North Koreans.
When the In Min Gun attempted to capture them, the two young women opened fire with their meager armament: They were each armed with M-1 Carbines with 45 rounds of ammunition (one 15 round magazine in the weapon and two extra 15 round magazines). In addition, they were both carrying two hand grenades each and also armed with Smith & Wesson .38 Special revolvers with 12 rounds of ammunition each (six rounds in the revolver and six extra rounds loose in the pocket). That was the extent of their weapons and ammunition. They were not expected to engage the enemy in a firefight, their mission was strictly intelligence gathering, so they were very lightly armed. Essentially, they were armed for extreme emergency purposes, to defend themselves long enough to get away.
It just so happened that the two young women were both excellent shots, particularly the young 18 year old Kim, Min Ja. Min Ja was considered the best shot among all women and actually, outshot the men as well! Lee, Song Ah was just about as good as the younger girl. The two were considered the best shots of all women in UNPIK and in fact, the 18 year old Min Ja was the best shot of anyone, man or woman, in the UNPIK at the time. Some of the American trainers thought of even converting her into a sniper! So, when the firefight broke out with the In Min Gun, the two young women, after establishing themselves behind cover, proceeded to systematically pick-off the enemy. With incredible precision, the two shot the In Min Gun one by one, not wasting their shots, mostly using just one round for each enemy soldier. Before long, they had completely wiped out the 18-man In Min Gun patrol! The women, who carried Leica cameras for intelligence gathering, took pictures of their In Min Gun victims before leaving the scene!
The two managed to make their way to the coast and stay hidden until their rendezvous time with a fishing boat that took them back to the south. North Korea at that time had no navy or air force to speak of. Their air force was mostly composed of MIG-15 fighters based in Manchuria and they did not waste their planes to search for enemy infiltrators. They were not about to risk the chance of their MIGs getting shot down by U.S. F-86s. They had some naval gun boats, but again, they rarely risked them. So once the two women got away from the army patrol and could stay hidden from other ground units, they were safe.
When the two young women returned and filed their report, their superiors were at first unbelieving, they thought the two had just made up the whole story. They claimed to have wiped out a 18-man patrol, yet they didn't even use all their ammunition! But then, when the photographs were developed and they saw the pictures of the dead In Min Gun, they started to believe that perhaps there was something to the girls' claim. Interestingly, the thing that convinced the headquarters people that the girls were telling the truth was the story that came out of North Korea. The North Koreans reported that the glorious People's Army (In Min Gun) patrol of six men had encountered a much larger force of enemy infiltrators that they had bravely repelled and killed. The six heroic In Min Gun were to be awarded the highest medal for heroism that the country had. The incident had supposedly taken place at exactly where the young women had been! That was the clincher. The North Koreans were notorious for putting a spin on events, always making their side the victor. It was obvious that the North Koreans had suffered a set back when the two young women engaged their 18-man patrol in a firefight. Immediately, the Psychological Warfare section made up leaflets with photos of the dead In Min Gun and described how two young women had fought off the much larger force of soldiers. The leaflets were dropped in large quantity in North Korea.
The two young women warriors became celebrities of sorts within the UNPIK. They were both awarded South Korea's second highest award for heroism, equivalent to our Distinguished Service Cross. Sadly, the older girl, the 20 years old Lee, Song Ah never returned from one of the subsequent missions to North Korea. The younger 18 years old Sergeant Kim, Min Ja survived several more missions into North Korea before the Panmunjom Cease Fire Agreement was signed in 1953. When the war ended, or more correctly, the fighting stopped (the state of war still exists, 63 years later!), the young Kim, Min Ja, like most male members of UNPIK, transitioned into the regular Republic of Korea Army. She was given a commission as Second Lieutenant, despite her young age and lack of college education, because of her experience and exploits during the fighting. Kim stayed in the ROK army which unlike US Army at the time, did not have a separate women's corps. It was difficult for her, there weren't that many women in the ROK army. In UNPIK women were in a separate unit and most chose not to transition into ROK army and became civilian.
Kim wanted to serve in the newly formed ROK Army Parachute Brigade. However, because she was a woman, there was a lot of resistance at first. Initially she was turned down, but, eventually the army allowed her to serve in the parachute unit, because for one thing, she had more experience than just about all of the men! She became one of the handful women in the fledging ROK Parachute Brigade. Kim's outstanding war record and ability served her well and she finished her 35 year army career retiring as a Colonel in 1987. She had married in the 1960s and had a son and a daughter. Interestingly, both son and daughter did their military service with the ROK Army Parachute Brigades! However, neither one made a career of the military. But, her granddaughter, Cho, Min Wha attended the ROK Military Academy and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the ROK Army Parachute Brigade. She volunteered for their Special Operations Unit and was accepted. Retired Colonel Kim, Min Ja died of illness (cancer) in 2000 at the age of 67.
In 2003, during his visit to Republic of South Korea, the U.S Joint Chief of Staff, General Richard Myers met the granddaughter of Kim, Min Ja, the legendary and pioneering woman warrior of South Korea. The granddaughter, First Lieutenant Cho, Min Wha had just completed a HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) jump when she was greeted by General Myers. Myers had heard of her grandmother's legendary exploits and specifically requested to meet the granddaughter.
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