Suspected South Korean traitors are herded into lorries on their way to execution – an incident that was later investigated by a United Nations observer. 1950

Suspected South Korean traitors are herded into lorries on their way to execution – an incident that was later investigated by a United Nations observer. 1950 (Photo by Haywood Magee/Getty Images)

The Bodo League massacre was a massacre and war crime against communists and suspected sympathizers (many of them were civilians who had no connection with communism or communists) that occurred in the summer of 1950 during the Korean War. Estimates of the death toll vary. According to Prof. Kim Dong-Choon, Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, at least 100,000 people were executed on suspicion of supporting communism; others estimate 200,000 deaths. The massacre was wrongly blamed on the communists. For four decades the South Korean government concealed this massacre. Survivors of this massacre were forbidden by the government from revealing it, under suspicion of being a Communist sympathizer. Public revelation carried with it the threat of torture and death. During the 1990s, several corpses were excavated from mass graves, resulting in public awareness of the massacre - From Wikipedia

Original caption: Suspected South Korean traitors are herded into lorries on their way to execution - an incident that was later investigated by a United Nations observer. Original Publication: Picture Post - 5086 - War In Korea - pub. 1950 (Photo by Haywood Magee/Getty Images)

The rifle looks like a Type 38 Arisaka to me and the soldier is wearing a Type 92 helmet. His white shirt is identical to the one worn by General Yamashita in this photograph. The jacket and the gaiters also look like they belong to a Japanese tropical uniform, together with the shirt.

It's not that surprising. Korea was under Japanese rule for decades and after WW2, there were of course vast stocks of perfectly fine weapons and equipment.