ABSTRACT
EARLY in the war the southern government had moved to Pusan, and for a time all political activity was suspended, but early in 1951 two scandals brought the opposition to life again. One was the burning of houses and the slaughter of about 600 villagers in the K ch'ang area, north of Mt Chiri, when they resisted an attempt by the army to evacuate them because they were believed to be providing sustenance for the Communist guerrillas, followed by an attack on the team sent by the National Assembly to investigate the incident. The three ministers responsible for the army, home affairs and justice in Rhee's cabinet resigned, and the officers responsible were punished, but Rhee later gave their commander, 'Tiger' Kim, a special pardon and put him in charge of the national police. The other was the embezzlement of millions of dollars worth of defence funds and supplies by officers in charge of the National Defence Corps, a militia many of whose members were found dying of cold and starvation. The commander and five others were condemned to death.
