70 Years of Armistice Agreements: Significance and Challenges

Emeritus Professor at ChungAng University

   Signed on July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement to suspend the military action of the Korean War, which lasted three years and one month, is an unprecedented case in history. The negotiation process, which began after a year of fighting, and the adoption as a pre-stage of the peace treaty, did not lead to a peace treaty after 70 years. The peculiarity is that the war is a "civil war" that aims for exclusive control of a territory, and a "judicial action" by the international community for violating the UN Charter, during the Cold War which has been a conflict between two powers. As an institution, it is time to demonstrate the wisdom to seek permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula by combining the Armistice Agreement and the resulting historical products.