#42 National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

[스티븐스 대사]

July 27, 2009 marked the 56th anniversary of the signing of the Military Armistice Agreement that ended three years of bitter warfare on the Korean peninsula.   When the Armistice was signed on July 27, 1953, it was explicitly viewed as a temporary military arrangement that would soon be replaced by a permanent peace agreement.  In 1954, diplomats gathered in Geneva to negotiate a permanent peace treaty, but were unsuccessful.  Subsequent efforts to replace the Armistice with a more permanent peace agreement have also failed.  Much work remains ahead of us.

Even though our work is unfinished, President Obama felt it was important to mark this anniversary of the Armistice.  On July 24 President Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring July 27, 2009 National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, and calling on all Americans “to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities that honor and give thanks to our distinguished Korean War veterans.”  And so on Monday, July 27, in Seoul, the U.S. Embassy here - along with all U.S. government buildings in the United States and throughout the world - lowered its flag to half-staff in memory of those who died as a result of their service in Korea.

General Mark Clark, U.S. Army Commander in Chief Far East Command, signing Korean Armistice on July 27, 1953 (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives)

In commemoration of the 56th Anniversary of the signing of the Military Armistice Agreement at Panmunjom, per proclamation by President Barack Obama, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul flies the U.S. flag at half-staff July 27, 2009.

On that same day I joined the United Nations Commander, along with Ambassadors, diplomats and military attachés representing the United Nations Command (UNC) participant countries at the truce village of Panmunjom.  We took part in a special ceremony organized by the Swedish and Swiss Delegations to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission.  This ceremony reflected on the sacrifices that have been made, and on the continuing importance of the Armistice in maintaining peace on the peninsula, even as we seek a more permanent peace.

Commemorating the 56th Anniversary of the signing of the Military Armistice Agreement with the Military Demarcation Line in the background, Panmunjom. On my right is General Walter Sharp, UNC Commander and current signatory of the armistice. On General Sharp’s right is the current UNCMAC Senior Member, MG Chang.  Also pictured are diplomats from UNC and NNSC participant countries.

A word of background:  Until the mid-1990’s Czechoslovakia and Poland were also participants on the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (or NNSC, the organization in charge of overseeing the Armistice within the United Nations Command).   In 1991, however, North Korea declared the NNSC defunct.  In 1993, after Czechoslovakia split into the two separate countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, North Korea refused to accept the Czech Republic as Czechoslovakia’s successor in the NNSC.   The Czechs left the NNSC in April of that year.  Then in late 1994, the North Koreans asked the Poles to withdraw their delegation.  When the Poles declined, the North Koreans evicted them from their camp on February 28, 1995.  While the Czechs accepted their departure and do not consider themselves to be NNSC delegates, the Poles still consider themselves members of the NNSC.  Poland sends representatives to NNSC meetings in Korea several times a year.

In the past, North Korean and Chinese Peoples Volunteers representatives (the other signatories to the Armistice) joined in shared observations of the Armistice anniversary.  The last time they participated, however, was in 1994.  This year, as in recent years, the North Korean military presence in Panmunjom was visible outside the building where the anniversary ceremony was held, and they neither interfered nor participated in the commemoration.

Returning to Seoul from Panmunjom, I was pleased to see the Korean news coverage of  the ceremony at Panmunjom, along with reporting from Washington, DC, showing commemoration events at the Korean War Memorial on the Mall.  I am always moved by visiting the Korean War Memorial in Washington.  For those who have not yet visited, it is located near the Lincoln Memorial, and across from the Vietnam War Memorial.  When I worked at the Department of State in Washington, I often rode my bicycle to work on a route that took me by all three memorials.  Whatever I faced that day at work, riding by those monuments helped me reflect at the beginning and end of each day on the sacrifices made to create the world we now enjoy, but in which so much still remains to be done to secure  peace and freedom for all.     

Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. (Official photo from the U.S. National Park Service)

I still meet many Korean War veterans, both in Korea and in the U.S.  As we approach the 60^th anniversary of the tragic start of the Korean War on June 25, 1950, I treasure these encounters with veterans.  As President Obama declared, “These dedicated servicemen and women, under the banner of the United Nations, fought to secure the blessings of freedom and democracy on the Korean Peninsula, and they deserve our unending respect and gratitude.”