Korean War Armistice Agreement

On 27 July 1953, North Korea’s General Nam Il and US Lieutenant William K. Harrison signed the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement to end the three year Korean War. To come upon this agreement, it took about two years of drawn out talks to formally decide the terms. The major issues of dispute included; the handling and treatment of prisoners of war, and the location of the demilitarized zone( DMZ). The other countries that were also involved were China, South Korea and the USSR. The actors involved were the Commander in Chief, United Nations Command, the Supreme Commander of Korean People’s Army, and the Commander of the Chinese People’s Volunteers. This agreement was made to end the hostilities in the Korean peninsula, determine the location of the DMZ, and to determine repatrinization for North Korean POWs who did not want to go back. This agreement was meant to be a temporary agreement until a formal peace treaty could be made, but it is currently the only settlement that is maintaining the harmony within the peninsula.

The final armistice agreement took close to two years to agree upon mainly because of the major issue of repatriation of the POWs. In 1951, initial armistice talks were halted over this discord and were heightened when the UN suggested that the prisoners could decide whether or not they wished to return to their home country. According to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, if a prisoner did not want to be repatrinized then, they would be “set at liberty”. This infuriated the North Korean delegation and thus the war continued, “The enemy representatives pro" tested vigorously. While argument continued, both sides tacitly extended the November 27 provisions for a line of demarcation. This had the effect of holding battle action to the pattern of the thirty-day waiting period.” In May of 1952, North Korea made a strategic move to compel the UNC to “give in”. The strategy that they used was the “hostage-holding game”. The intent for the North Korean delegation was to “trade the U.S. officer's life and release for UNC admissions of inhumane treatment of captives, including alleged cruelties during previous screenings of prisoners in which a large number of prisoners refused repatriation. The obvious objective was to discredit the voluntary repatriation stand taken by the UNC delegation at Panmunjom.” The UNC, however, did not respond to the demands. Thus, the UNC did not “give in” to the hostage demands and strengthened their long-term reputation by their refusal to comply with the North Koreans just because they were threatening to kill one of their soldiers. The UNC response seemed to be that, there are always casualties in war so they were not going to give in.

The nature of the strategic interaction between the US and the North Korean was definitely hostile and the belligerents of both sides used threats and force in order to get the response that they wanted. Thus the type of game involved is a coordination game with a conflict of interest. The main goal and payoff is to have a cecessation of all hostilities on the Korean Peninsula and try to come up with some type of peaceful arrangement to maintain harmony for both South Korea and North Korea. Thus the final armistice calls for the ceccessation of all hostile activities, and the withdrawal of military forces on both sides. Both parties agreed to end hostilities, however, the conflict of interest started with the issue of the repriation of prisoners and the treatment of prisoners in the UN camps. The US’ goal was to ultimately end the war quickly, while North Korea’s intention was to gain as many outposts as possible and regain all of their POWs. After the election of 1952, President Truman revealed that he preferred to have a honorable truce, but stated that if the agreements were not progressing, he would use military force without inhibition and would no longer be responsible for maintaining peace within the Korean Peninsula.

            The strategic move that Truman made to the North Korea as well as to Moscow, Peiping, and P'yongyang was intended to send a message to the communist countries of his intentions. He made sure that these countries heard his message. He relays a message that the intentions of the US is to maintain peace but that if the aggressor countries refuse to comply to the US’ terms, that the US would not hesitate to use force. The US places the “threat that leaves something to chance”. Truman tries to state that if the the armistice agreements do not work, that all of the communist countries will suffer the consequences. He leaves it up to the other countries to basically decide whether or not to continue skirmishing over South Korea and the issues revolving around the armistice agreements. The next move on part of the US was to make a proposal that may appeal to their opposition. General Clark proposed to exchange sick and wounded prisoners. By doing this, the US tries to make it so both sides get some kind of benefit, and to show an act of kindness and genourousity; making “giving in” more attractive for the North Korean government as well as benefiting armistice settlements.