Panmunjom (also spelled Panmunjeom) was a village just north of the ''de facto'' border between

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, where the 1953

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement (; zh, t=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 Kelly Harrison Jr ...

that ended the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

was signed. It was located in what is now

Paju Paju (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. Paju was made a city in 1997; it had previously been a county (''gun''). The city area of Paju is ,"Paju (Gyeonggi-do Province)." ''Naver Encyclopedi ...

, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, and

Panmun-guyok P'anmun-guyŏk is a ward in Kaesong, North Korea. History In December 1952, during the Korean War, P'anmun County was established due to the reorganization of administrative divisions in North Korea. The name of the county is taken from Panmunjo ...

, Kaesong, North Korea. The building where the armistice was signed still stands. Its name is often used as a

metonym Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word "wikt:suit, suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such ...

for the nearby

Joint Security Area The Joint Security Area (JSA, often referred to as the Truce Village or Panmunjom) is the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) where North Korea, North and South Korean forces stand face-to-face. The JSA is used by the two Koreas ...

(JSA), where discussions between North Korea and South Korea still take place in blue buildings that straddle the Military Demarcation Line. As such, it is considered one of the last vestiges of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Location

The site of the former village is 53 kilometers north-northwest of the capital of South Korea,

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, and 10 kilometers east of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ; ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region cl ...

. The village, a small cluster of fewer than ten huts, is on the south side of the Kaesong-Seoul road on the west bank of the Sa'cheon stream. Meetings of the

Military Armistice Commission The United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (UNCMAC) was established in July 1953 at the end of the Korean War. The mission of UNCMAC is to supervise the Military Armistice Agreement between the two Koreas along the 151 mile Demil ...

took place in several tents set up on the north side. The eighteen copies of Volume I and II of the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...

were signed by the senior delegates of each side in a building constructed by both sides over a 48-hour period. (North Korea provided labour and some supplies, while the

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first attempt at collective security by the U ...

provided some supplies, generators and lighting to allow the work to continue at night.) After the Armistice Agreement was signed, construction began in September 1953 on a new site, the JSA, located approximately one kilometer east of the village. All meetings between North Korea and the United Nations Command or South Korea have taken place here since its completion. The JSA is often referred to as Panmunjom. After the war, all civilians were removed from the

Korean Demilitarized Zone The Korean Demilitarized Zone () is a heavily militarized strip of land running across the Korea, Korean Peninsula near the 38th parallel north. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a border barrier that divides the peninsula roughly in half. It wa ...

(DMZ), except for two villages near the JSA on opposite sides of the Military Demarcation Line. After that, the empty village of Panmunjom fell into disrepair and eventually disappeared from the landscape. There is no evidence of it today. However, the building constructed for the signing of the armistice has since been renamed by North Korea as the Peace Museum.

Truce talks and POW issue

United Nations forces met with North Korean and Chinese officials at Panmunjom from 1951 to 1953 for truce talks. The talks dragged on for many months. The main point of contention during the talks was the question surrounding the prisoners of war. Moreover, South Korea was uncompromising in its demand for a unified state. On 8 June 1953, an agreement to the POW problem was reached. Those prisoners who refused to return to their countries were allowed to live under a neutral supervising commission for three months. At the end of this period, those who still refused repatriation would be released. Among those who refused repatriation were 21 American and one British POWs, all but two of whom chose to defect to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. A final armistice agreement was reached on 27 July 1953. The United Nations Command, Chinese People's Liberation Army, and North Korea People's Army agreed to an armistice ending the fighting. The agreement established a 4-kilometer-wide demilitarized zone along the armistice line, effectively dividing Korea into two separate countries. Although most troops and all heavy weapons were to be removed from the area, it has been heavily armed by both sides since the end of the fighting.

References

External links

2018 Inter-Korean Summit
The official website of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit (English)
2018 Inter-Korean Summit
The official website of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit (Korean)

Traveller's blog with pictures from North Korea, with web-page dedicated to Panmunjeom
Travel in Korea: Panmunjeom
information about the village and its history.
Video of Panmunjeom DMZ360° interactive virtual tour of Panmunjeom
{{Authority control Korean Demilitarized Zone North Korea–South Korea border crossings Divided cities Korean War Former villages Former populated places in South Korea

Location

Truce talks and POW issue

See also

References

External links