Quite a story.
Yes, until the Soviet Union fell information on Soviet participation in the air war in Korea was treated as a big secret even though it was openly known in the AF and USN. In his next to last victory McConnell damaged a a MiG-15 piloted by Soviet ace Semyon Fedorets so badly that it made a crash landing on a north Korean recovery strip, however, his Sabre was also badly damaged and was forced to bail out after he nursed his aircraft out over the Sea of Japan. The part about Fedorets was censored until the 1990’s even though Fedorets described the engagement in his open source memoirs.The reason for these contortions was the cautious US approach to any reports of actual US Soviet armed clashes. The State Dept/White House philosophy was to avoid any direct US Soviet conflict. The same philosophy managed to keep the information that Migs flown apparently by Cubans did ambush the air cap of the Coral Sea or Philippine Sea off Cuba during the Bay of Pigs. Two USN jets were downed and the carrier strafed by the Migs. The White House knew if the news of these event got out an invasion of Cuba would have to occur.