Lieutenant General John R. Hodge, Commanding General of U.S. Occupation Forces in Korea.
This is the press release issued by Hodge on Wednesday, June 16, 1948 in response to the bombing that took place at Dokdo the week before.
This letter from Hodge to the U.S. State Department indicates the measures that Hodge took to handle the public relations crisis caused by the bombing. He states that the "Able board of claims" he sent to the East coast of Korea and Ullung Island was given the authority to make the final decisions regarding compensation on the spot. It seems that the occupation authorities wanted to get this issue over with as soon as possible. The whole scene reminds one of a similar incident that took place in Cambodia in 1973, where, after a B-52 accidently dropped its entire bomb-load on the town of Neak Luong, American embassy officials arrived to hand out single $100 dollar bills to the surviving residents for the loss of their family members and homes.
