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KOREAN SERVICE CORPS
and the “A-FRAME”

    In the summer of 1950, North Korea  invaded South Korea.  The U.S. military presence in South Korea was not nearly large enough to sustain the war effort required and was in desperate need of manpower.  The lack of roads and extreme grades made it impossible to send US Army cargo trucks to the front lines.

    Within weeks of the invasion, South Korea, which was officially called the Republic of Korea, had organized a civilian labor force that eventually became known as the Korean Service Corps (KSC). 

   Members of the Korean Service Corps carried supplies on their backs with hand-made wooden framed backpacks called "A-frames."  These frames enabled an individual to carry 50 pounds of supplies/equipment per person.

THE A-FRAME REGIMENTS 

   Serving in the KSC was an intensely dangerous and laborious task.  Korea is made up of very mountainous terrain.    Over 70% of the country has a grade of 30% or higher grade, making it very rugged.

   Throughout the Korean conflict, the KSC remained exceedingly organized, efficient, and valuable to the freedom-keeping efforts of the United Nations.

Above, the KSC A-Frame members, carry New Year's Day Dinner to Company L, 21st Infantry, near Kumsong, Korea.

Members of the Korean Service Corps were transporting to some of the bloodiest scenes of the war.  An average schedule for the KSC members was to carry in supplies and help build bunkers by day, and haul out the dead or wounded by night.

    Doing what military vehicles could not, these men carried 50 pounds of supplies per day for a minimum of ten miles up extremely rugged terrain. 

   They braved harsh, cold weather, and were constantly under threat of hostile action.

   One of the most amazing facts about this corps is that they were, and always have been, an unarmed labor force.

   In Korea, the lack of helicopters necessitated forming companies of bearers to supply the forces deployed in rugged terrain.  It took fifty of these men to move one ton ten miles in one day. 

      Today, the Korean Service Corps no longer carries A-frames, but operates forklifts and provides a skilled general-purpose labor force.  They still directly support the US Eighth Army units in their garrison locations and remain as a fully unarmed parliamentary labor force.