Korean Armistice Agreement

For the 2018 agreement, see Panmunjom Declaration.

Korean Armistice Agreement
Delegates of both belligerent sides signing the Korean Armistice Agreement in Panmunjom, marking the beginning of the still-existing ceasefire between the two Koreas
TypeArmistice
Signed27 July 1953
LocationPanmunjom, Korea
Signatories
Parties
LanguagesEnglish, Korean, Chinese

The Korean Armistice Agreement (Korean: 한국정전협정 / 조선정전협정; Chinese: 韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United States Army Lieutenant General William Harrison Jr. and General Mark W. Clark representing the United Nations Command (UNC), North Korea leader Kim Il Sung and General Nam Il representing the Korean People's Army (KPA), and Peng Dehuai representing the Chinese People's Volunteer Army (PVA).[1] The armistice was signed on 27 July 1953, and was designed to "ensure a complete cessation of hostilities and of all acts of armed force in Korea until a final peaceful settlement is achieved."[2]

During the 1954 Geneva Conference in Switzerland, Chinese Premier and foreign minister Zhou Enlai suggested that a peace treaty should be implemented on the Korean peninsula. However, the US secretary of state, John Foster Dulles, did not accommodate this attempt to achieve such a treaty. A final peace settlement has never been achieved.[3] The signed armistice established the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the de facto new border between the two nations, put into force a ceasefire, and finalized repatriation of prisoners of war. The DMZ runs close to the 38th parallel and has separated North and South Korea since the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953.

South Korea never signed the Armistice Agreement, due to President Syngman Rhee's refusal to accept having failed to unify Korea by force.[4][5] China normalized relations and signed a peace treaty with South Korea in 1992. In 1994, China withdrew from the Military Armistice Commission, essentially leaving North Korea and the UN Command as the only participants in the armistice agreement.[6][7] In 2011, South Korea stated that North Korea had violated the armistice 221 times.[8]

  1. ^ "Document for July 27th: Armistice Agreement for the Restoration of the South Korean State". Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Korean War Armistice Agreement". FindLaw. Canada and United States: Thomson Reuters. 27 July 1953. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  3. ^ "North Korea: Why negotiations can't wait for denuclearisation". www.afr.com. 9 February 2018. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  4. ^ Kollontai, Ms Pauline; Kim, Professor Sebastian C. H.; Hoyland, Revd Greg (28 May 2013). Peace and Reconciliation: In Search of Shared Identity. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 111. ISBN 978-1-4094-7798-3.
  5. ^ Stueck 1995, p. 214.
  6. ^ "Chinese and South Koreans Formally Establish Relations". The New York Times. 24 August 1992.
  7. ^ "China, Backing North Korea, Quits Armistice Commission". The New York Times. 3 September 1994.
  8. ^ "N.K. commits 221 provocations since 1953". The Korea Herald. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2020.