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Korean Armistice Agreement

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Delegates sign Korean Armistice Agreement in P’anmunjŏm, Korea.

The Korean Armistice Agreement is an agreement signed by U.S. Army Lieutenant General William Harrison, Jr., representing the United Nations Command and North Korean General Nam Il, representing the North Korean People's Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army.[1] The agreement was signed on July 27,1953 and was designed to "insure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved."[2] The signed armistice restored the border between the two nations near the 38th parallel, created the Korean Demilitarized Zone, put into force a cease-fire, and finalized repatriation of prisoners of war.

Background

By mid-December 1950 the United States was already discussing terms for an agreement to end the Korean War.[3] The desired agreement would end the fighting, provide assurances against its resumption, and protect the future security of UN forces.[4] The United States decided that there needed to be a military armistice commission of mixed membership that would supervise all agreements.[5] Both sides would need to agree to “cease the introduction into Korea of any reinforcing air, ground or naval units or personnel… and to refrain from increasing the level of war equipment and material existing in Korea.”[6] The U.S. also desired to make a demilitarized zone that would be roughly 20 miles wide.[7] The agreement would address the issue of prisoners of war of which the U.S. believed that they should be exchanged on a one-for-one basis.[8]

While talks of a possible armistice agreement were circulating, in late May and early June of 1951, South Korean President, Syngman Rhee opposed peace talks. He believed the ROK should continue to expand its army in order to march all the way to the Yalu River and completely unify the nation.[9] The UN did not endorse Rhee’s position.[10] Even without UN support, Rhee and the South Korean government launched a massive effort to mobilize the public to resist any halt in the fighting short of the Yalu River.[11] Other ROK officials supported Rhee’s ambitions and the National Assembly unanimously passed a resolution endorsing a continued fight for an “independent and unified country.”[12] At the end of June however, the Assembly decided to support armistice talks.[13]

Like Syngman Rhee, North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung also sought complete unification. The North Korean side was slow to support armistice talks and only on June 27th 1951, 17 days after armistice talks began, did it change its slogan of “drive the enemy into the sea” to “drive the enemy to the 38th parallel.”[14] North Korea was pressured to support armistice talks by allies China and the Soviet Union, whose support enabled North Korea to continue fighting. Thus North Korea adopted a pro-armistice position.

Armistice Discussions

Talks over the armistice agreement started on July 10, 1951,[15] in the city Kaesŏng, a city occupied by North Korea in North Hwanghae Province near the South Korean border.[16] The primary negotiators were General Nam Il a North Korean, and Vice Admiral Charles Turner Joy, an American.[17] After a period of two weeks, on June 26, 1951 a five-part agenda was agreed upon.[18] This agenda guided talks until the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953. The agenda is as follows:

1. Adoption of agenda.
2. Fixing a military demarcation line between both sides so as to establish a demilitarized zone as a basic condition for a cessation of hostilities in Korea.
3. Concrete arrangements for the realization of cease fire and armistice in Korea, including the composition, authority and functions of a supervision organization for carrying out the terms of a cease-fire and armistice.
4. Arrangements relating to prisoners of war.
5. Recommendations to the governments of the countries concerned on both sides. [19]

After the agenda was decided talks proceeded slowly, with off and on again discussions. The longest gap between discussions started on August 23, 1951.[20] On that day, during the morning before sunrise, North Korea and its allies claimed that the conference site in Kaesŏng had been bombed. North Korea sought for United Nations Command (UNC) to conduct an immediate investigation, which concluded that there was evidence that a UNC aircraft had indeed attacked the conference site. The evidence however, appeared to be manufactured and due to this lack of confirmed evidence, the cause of the incident was inconclusive. The Communists subsequently refused to permit an investigation during daylight hours.[21]

Armistice talks did not start again until October 25, 1951.[22] The U.S. would not allow further discussion to take place in Kaesŏng.[23] Panmunjom, located in Kyŏnggi Province bordering North and South Korea, was agreed upon by both powers as the new location for peace agreement discussions on the condition that both sides took responsibility for its protection.[24]

Discussions continued slowly because of difficulties regarding the location of the border between North and South Korea. China and North Korea believed and expected the line to remain at the 38th parallel. Within weeks however, both nations accepted the Kansas Line, the place where the two sides actually confronted each other at the time.[25]

The decision of what to do with the prisoners of war repatriation was also an issue during negotiations. The Communists held 10,000 POWs and the UN held 150,000 POWs.[26] The People’s Volunteer Army (PVA), Korean People’s Army (KPA), and UN Command could not agree on a system of repatriation because many PVA and KPA soldiers refused to be repatriated back to the north, which was unacceptable to the Chinese and North Koreans.[27] In the final armistice agreement, a Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission was set up to handle the matter.[28] The agreement provided for monitoring by an international commission. Since 1953, the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), composed of members from the Swiss and Swedish Armed Forces, has been stationed near the DMZ.

On July 19, 1953, delegates reached agreement over all issues regarding the armistice..[29] On July 27, 1953 at 10:00 a.m. the armistice was signed by Nam Il, delegate of the Koreans People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteers, and William K. Harrison Jr., United Nations Command delegate.[30] Twelve hours after the signing of the document, all agreed upon regulations came into effect.[31]

Effects

The signed armistice established a “complete cessation of all hostilities in Korea by all armed force”[32] that was to be enforced by the commanders of both sides. Essentially a complete cease-fire was put into force. The armistice is however only a cease-fire. No peace treaty was signed which means that Korean War has not officially ended.

The armistice also established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The DMZ was decided to be a 2.5-mile (4.0 km)-wide fortified buffer zone between the two Korean nations.[33] The zone was to be patrolled by the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC). The Demilitarized Zone follows the Kansas Line where the place where the two sides actually confronted each other at the time of the signed armistice. The DMZ is currently the most heavily defended national border in the world.

The Armistice also established regulations regarding prisoners of war. The agreement stated that “Within sixty (60) days after this agreement becomes effective each side shall, without offering any hindrance, directly repatriate and hand over in groups all those prisoners of war in its custody who insist on repatriation to the side to which they belonged at the time of capture.”[34]

In addition to the established regulations listed above, the armistice also gave recommendation to the “governments of the countries concerned on both sides that, within three (3) months after the Armistice Agreement is signed and becomes effective, a political conference of a higher level of both sides be held by representatives appointed respectively to settle through negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea, the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc.”[35] Even in 2013, 60 years after the signing of the armistice agreement, these issues have not been settled as a peaceful settlement of the Korean question has not been solved and American troops still reside in South Korea.

After the armistice was signed the war is considered to have ended even though there was no official peace treaty. Despite the three-year war, the Korean peninsula greatly resembled what it did before the war with national borders at similar locations. The U.S. views the war as a tie while North Korea and China both claim that they won the Korean War.[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Document for July 27th: Armistce Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State". Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  2. ^ "Korean War Armistice Agreement", FindLaw, July 27, 1953
  3. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p212
  4. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p211
  5. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p212
  6. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p212
  7. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p212
  8. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p212
  9. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p214
  10. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p214
  11. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p215
  12. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p215
  13. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p215
  14. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p216
  15. ^ Mount, "The Diplomacy of War: The Case of Korea", p123
  16. ^ Stokesbury, "A Short History of the Korean War", p145
  17. ^ Mount, "The Diplomacy of War: The Case of Korea", p122
  18. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p225
  19. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p225
  20. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p225
  21. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p229
  22. ^ Mount, "The Diplomacy of War: The Case of Korea", p123
  23. ^ Catchpole, "The Korean War: An International History", p320
  24. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p237
  25. ^ Mount, "The Diplomacy of War: The Case of Korea", p123
  26. ^ Stueck, "The Korean War: An International History", p212
  27. ^ Catchpole, "The Korean War: An International History", p216
  28. ^ Stokesbury, "A Short History of the Korean War", p189
  29. ^ "The Korean War Timeline". Retrieved 2012-12-13.
  30. ^ "Korean War Armistice Agreement", FindLaw, July 27, 1953
  31. ^ Catchpole, "The Korean War: An International History", p322
  32. ^ "Korean War Armistice Agreement", FindLaw, July 27, 1953
  33. ^ Mount, "The Diplomacy of War: The Case of Korea", p123
  34. ^ "Korean War Armistice Agreement", FindLaw, July 27, 1953
  35. ^ "Korean War Armistice Agreement", FindLaw, July 27, 1953
  36. ^ War Victory Day of DPRK Marked in DIfferent Countries, KCNA, August 1, 2011.
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