Declassified Documents Shed Light on Long, Complicated Negotiations over Korean Armistice Agreement
Declassified documents from Russia, China, Poland, the United States and South Korea shed light on North Korean, Soviet and Chinese strategic thinking toward the conflict and the armistice.
On 12 June, 2018, after months of trading , US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un of North Korea backed off from the precipice of war and held a historic summit in Singapore, the first high-level meeting between the leaders of the Korean War foes. In a show of camaraderie, they shook hands and issued a in which they agreed to work toward the 鈥渃omplete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula鈥 and toward building 鈥渁 lasting and stable peace regime.鈥
While scrutiny in the United States has centered on whether North Korea truly will denuclearize, it is the important to remember that the long-unresolved Korean War serves as the backdrop of tensions between the United States and North Korea.
Sixty-five years ago this week, on 27 July, 1953, the foes called a truce by signing an Armistice Agreement that brought three years of brutal fighting, which had left millions dead, to an end.
The cease-fire, meant to be temporary, has never been replaced by a peace treaty. As a legacy of the war, the United States maintains more than 28,000 troops in South Korea to protect the wartime ally against aggression 鈥 a presence that North Korea views as 鈥渙ccupation鈥 and which Pyongyang cites as justification for its buildup of nuclear weapons.
As talks continue between the United States and North Korea on a peace regime to replace the armistice of 1953, a look back at history and the negotiations that resulted in a ceasefire warrant renewed attention.
Declassified documents from Russia, China, Poland, the United States and South Korea, collected by 澳门六合彩鈥檚 North Korea International Documentation Project, shed light on North Korean, Soviet and Chinese strategic thinking toward the conflict and the armistice. They also reveal differences between North Korea and China in negotiating strategies and military tactics, and South Korean reluctance to agree to an armistice. (In fact, South Korea is not a signatory to the Armistice Agreement, which was signed by North Korea and China on one side, and the United States and the United Nations on the other.)
Highlights include:
- A , from a Soviet official in Beijing conveying a message from China鈥檚 Zhou Enlai informing the Soviet leadership of the terms under which China would consider an armistice on the Korean Peninsula.
- A , from Stalin to Mao Zedong of China with advice on how to reply to a US request for armistice negotiations.
- A , from Soviet diplomats following a meeting with North Korean President Kim Il Sung in which they report Kim鈥檚 agreement to bring the war to an end through negotiations if not military means.
- A 6聽 by South Korean President Syngman Rhee strongly opposing peace talks between the United Nations, North Korea鈥檚 Korean People鈥檚 Army and China鈥檚 People鈥檚 Volunteer Army.
- A confidential , outlining South Korean President Syngman Rhee鈥檚 disapproval of a truce and US bargaining to entice Rhee to agree to the armistice.
Click to be redirected to the to view dozens of documents on the Korean War Armistice.
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Minjeong Ko and Sally Chung contributed research to this post.
About the Author
Jean H. Lee
Journalist and former Pyongyang Bureau Chief, Associated Press
North Korea International Documentation Project
The North Korea International Documentation Project serves as an informational clearinghouse on North Korea for聽the scholarly and policymaking communities, disseminating聽documents on the DPRK from its former communist allies that provide valuable insight into the actions and nature of the North Korean state. It is part of 澳门六合彩's History and Public Policy Program. Read more
History and Public Policy Program
The History and Public Policy Program聽makes public the primary source record of 20th and 21st century international history from repositories around the world, facilitates scholarship based on those records, and uses these materials to provide context for classroom, public, and policy debates on global affairs. Read more
Hyundai Motor-Korea Foundation Center for Korean History and Public Policy
The Center for Korean History and Public Policy was established in 2015 with the generous support of the Hyundai Motor Company and the Korea Foundation to provide a coherent, long-term platform for improving historical understanding of Korea and informing the public policy debate on the Korean peninsula in the United States and beyond. Read more
