Korean Armistice Agreement
7/27/1953
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This is the agreement between the Korean People's Army, the Chinese People's Volunteers, and United Nations Command for a complete cessation of hostilities and armed force in Korea. The agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, in Panmunjom, Korea at 1400 hours.
The armistice agreement formally ended the war in Korea. Under the agreement, North and South Korea would remain separate countries and occupy almost the same territory they had when the war began.
The Korean War began on June 25, 1950, when the North Koreans invaded South Korea. Scarcely acknowledging each other, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William K. Harrison, Jr., senior delegate, United Nations Command Delegation; and North Korean Gen. Nam Il, senior delegate, Delegation of the Korean People's Army and the Chinese People's Volunteers, signed 18 official copies of the tri-language Korean Armistice Agreement in Panmunjom.
It was the end of the longest negotiated armistice in history: 158 meetings spread over two years and 17 days. The truce went into effect that evening: July 27, 1953, at 10 p.m. The Korean Armistice Agreement is somewhat exceptional in that it is purely a military document—no nation is a signatory to the agreement.
The Armistice Agreement:
- suspended open hostilities;
- withdrew all military forces and equipment from a 4,000-meter-wide zone, establishing the Demilitarized Zone as a buffer between the forces;
- prevented both sides from entering the air, ground, or sea areas under control of the other;
- arranged release and repatriation of prisoners of war and displaced persons; and
- established the Military Armistice Commission (MAC) and other agencies to discuss any violations and to ensure adherence to the truce terms.
While it stopped hostilities, it was not a permanent peace treaty between nations.
This primary source comes from the Records of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
National Archives Identifier:
7062611Full Citation: Korean Armistice Agreement Volume 1, Text of Agreement [English]; 7/27/1953; Korean Armistice Agreement, 1953 - 1953; Records of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Record Group 218; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/korean-armistice-agreement, April 18, 2024]