How did the Korean Armistice Agreement come about?
Korean War 1950-1953.
After a summit on April 27 in Panmunjom, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to soon end the Korean War with a peace treaty.
When World War II ended, the Korean peninsula was divided into two regions at the 38th parallel, with the north placed under Soviet control and the south controlled by the United States.
US President at that time, Harry S. Truman, believed that this attack was a Soviet plan to expand the influence of Communism, so the US immediately drafted a United Nations resolution calling for the establishment of the United Nations.
The resolution was quickly passed without a veto because the Soviet Union was boycotting the Security Council to protest China’s failure to be accepted into this powerful body.
In just a few days, US naval, land, and air forces under the name of United Nations troops poured into Korea to participate in the war.
The war that followed mainly took place on North Korean territory and the US-South Korean coalition with advantages in technology and firepower quickly pushed the North Korean army close to the Chinese border.
With the participation of 250,000 Chinese troops since late 1951, the war fell into a deadlock when neither side really gained a strategic advantage on the battlefield and mainly carried out battles of attrition.
The year-long tug of war made Truman want to end the war and find a way to negotiate peace with all sides.
Upon winning the election, Eisenhower was determined to establish peace on the peninsula and end the Korean War.
Threat of nuclear bombs
Eisenhower began publicly hinting that the United States might use nuclear weapons to create a breakthrough on the Korean battlefield.
It is unclear how effective Eisenhower’s threat of nuclear attack was, but by July 1953, all parties involved in the conflict were ready to sign an agreement to end the bloodshed.
On July 27, 1953, at the negotiation room in Panmunjom village located between the North and South Korean borders, an armistice agreement was signed between General Nam Il, representing the Korean army and the Chinese volunteer army, with
American General William K. Harrison (left) signs an armistice with North Korean General Nam Il at Panmunjom.
According to the agreement, a monitoring committee with representatives from neutral countries will decide the fate of thousands of prisoners of war captured by both sides.
The two sides also agreed to end all open hostile actions and withdraw military forces 2 km deep from the position under control, creating a demilitarized zone 4 km wide along the newly divided border.
The armistice helped end a war that claimed the lives of millions of North Koreans and Chinese as well as more than 50,000 American soldiers.
For many American generals who were accustomed to forcing the enemy to surrender unconditionally, having to accept a `no side wins` outcome in the Korean War made them unhappy, and many even questioned it.
`Senior commanders were pleased with the end of bloodshed, but were not proud or satisfied with the armistice they were ordered to sign,` TIME reported after the agreement was announced.
South Korea did not sign the agreement
The border between North Korea and South Korea after the signing of the armistice agreement.
The Korean government at that time also believed that an agreement that divided the peninsula was `unacceptable` so it did not sign the armistice agreement, although the country recently confirmed that it had discussed signing the treaty.
When signing the armistice agreement, representatives of both sides did not intend to let this war `linger in limbo` for more than half a century.
But at the Geneva conference in April 1954, when discussing the Korean issue, the leaders could not agree on a peaceful path for the peninsula.
The fact that then-South Korean President Ly Thua Van (Syngman Rhee) wanted the US to take actions to increase Seoul’s control over the peninsula also caused many obstacles to the peace process.
`The Geneva Conference broke down and the war on the Korean Peninsula has not officially ended since then. There have been many negotiations, but the conflict has never been completely resolved,` Armstrong said.
After the end of the Cold War, South Korea and North Korea took steps to cool down, such as signing an agreement to refrain from the use of force or pledging to cooperate towards reconciliation in 1991. However, until
According to Armstrong, tensions on the Korean peninsula peaked in 2010, when the South Korean warship Cheonan was sunk and North Korea shelled the South Korean forward island of Yeonpyeong.
North Korean soldiers and United Nations soldiers face off at Panmunjom.
The announcement by the leaders of South Korea and North Korea that they will convince the US and possibly China to soon turn the armistice agreement into a lasting peace treaty has sparked new hope for the Korean Peninsula to completely end the war.
`I don’t have high expectations for this meeting, but I feel like there are still many potential outcomes that we haven’t seen in decades,` Armstrong said.