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Peacekeeping Without the Secretary- General: the Korean Armistice Arrangements

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Peacekeeping Without the Secretary- General: the Korean Armistice Arrangements PEACEKEEPING WITHOUT THE SECRETARY- GENERAL: THE KOREAN ARMISTICE ARRANGEMENTS BY Ray Smith A THESIS PRESENTED IN PARTIAL COMPLETION OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF The Certificate-of-Training in United Nations Peace Support Operations Peacekeeping without the Secretary-General: The Korean Armistice Arrangements A Thesis by Squadron Leader Raymond C. Smith Royal Australian Air Force presented in partial completion of the requirements of The Certificate-of-Training in United Nations Peace Support Operations TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents.........................................................................................................................................ii List of Illustrations .....................................................................................................................................iii List of Abbreviations.................................................................................................................................. iv Glossary......................................................................................................................................................... v Abstract........................................................................................................................................................ vi Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 1 United Nations Involvement in Korea 1945 to 1950 – Historical context............................................ 1 The United Nations and the Korean War – the role of the Security Council........................................ 2 The Legal Basis for the Use of Force ...................................................................................................... 3 The Use of Force and US Command and Control .................................................................................. 5 The End of the Korean War ..................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2: The Korean War Armistice Agreement ............................................................................ 10 Overview of the Agreement ................................................................................................................... 10 The Military Armistice Commission..................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 3: Status of the Peacekeepers on the Korean Peninsula...................................................... 16 United Nations Command: From Peace-enforcers to Peacekeepers ................................................... 19 Chapter 4: Conclusions ............................................................................................................................ 22 Table of International Instruments ........................................................................................................ 24 Security Council Resolutions................................................................................................................. 24 General Assembly Resolutions .............................................................................................................. 24 Economic and Social Council Resolutions ........................................................................................... 24 International Agreements ....................................................................................................................... 24 Table of Cases ............................................................................................................................................ 25 References................................................................................................................................................... 26 Bibliographic........................................................................................................................................... 26 Newspapers ............................................................................................................................................. 27 Internet..................................................................................................................................................... 27 ii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Structure of the Military Armistice Commission 1953-1991. .................................11 Figure 2: Structure of General Officer Talks 1998-...............................................................13 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation CFC [United States – Republic of Korea] Combined Forces Command DMZ Demilitarised Zone DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea KPA Korean People’s Army MAC Military Armistice Commission MDL Military Demarcation Line MFO Multinational Force and Observers ONUC Operation des Nations Unies au Congo ROK Republic of Korea UK United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland UN United Nations UNC United Nations Command UNCMAC United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission UNCOK United Nations Commission on Korea UNCURK United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea UNEF I The First United Nations Emergency Force UNKRA United Nations Reconstruction Agency for the Relief and Rehabilitation of Korea UNMOGIP United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan UNSF United Nations Security Force in West New Guinea (West Irian) UNTCOK United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea UNTSO United Nations Truce Supervision Organization US United States of America iv GLOSSARY General Officers Army officers of the rank of Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and General. Includes in this context their Navy and Air Force equivalents (Flag and Air Officers, respectively). Permanent Five The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: China, France, Russia, The United States, and The United Kingdom. v ABSTRACT Fifty-five years after the United Nations Security Council authorised a United States-led coalition to use the United Nations flag in the course of operations against North Korean forces; and fifty-two years after an Armistice Agreement ended hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, the UN Flag still flies over the Demilitarised Zone. Since the signing of the Armistice Agreement, the peace has been kept by a military armistice commission comprised exclusively of military officers of the former belligerents, under the command and control of their national governments. This thesis will examine the history of United Nations involvement in Korea, the enforcement action by the United Nations Command, and the current peacekeeping machinery on the Korean Peninsular, assessing its effectiveness in the absence of command and control by the Secretary-General. vi 1 INTRODUCTION United Nations Involvement in Korea 1945 to 1950 – Historical context By the end of the Second World War, Korea had been ruled by a Japanese colonial administration for 35 years.1 After the Japanese surrender, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to the thirty-eighth parallel as the boundary of their respective zones of occupation on the Peninsula. In the North, the Soviet Union installed a Communist administration under the leadership of Kim Il-sung, while in the South, the United States supported Syngman Rhee, a leader of the former Provisional Government in exile.2 In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly established the Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to facilitate Korea-wide elections by 31 May 1948 and consequently oversee the transfer of power to the newly-elected government. In the event, UNTCOK was able to function only in the South; elections held south of the thirty-eight parallel on 10 May 1948 were held by the Commission to be valid; and Syngman Rhee became President of the Republic of Korea on 15 August 1948. On 3 September 1948, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was proclaimed in Pyongyang under the Premiership of Kim Il-sung.3 Subsequently, on 12 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly established a new commission, whose mission was to facilitate the unification of Korea, and the withdrawal of occupation forces. The United Nations Commission on Korea (UNCOK), which included a number of military observers, did oversee the withdrawal of almost all the US and Soviet forces, but was unsuccessful in encouraging any moves towards peaceful unification.4 UNCOK, in turn, was replaced by the United Nations Commission for the Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea (UNCURK) after the outbreak of the war,5 and an additional commission, the United Nations Reconstruction Agency for the Relief and Rehabilitation of Korea (UNKRA) was established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council on 1 Japan occupied Korea in 1905 and then annexed it in 1910: Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: a Contemporary History, New Edition, Basic Books, 2001, p. 5. 2 Robert O’Neill, Australia in the Korean War 1950-53: Volume 1 Strategy and Diplomacy, The Australian War Memorial and the Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1981, pp. 6-7. 3 ibid., p. 7-9. 4 ibid., p. 9-10. 5 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 376(V), 7 October 1950. 2 7 November 1950, to assume UNCURK’s responsibilities for the conduct of rehabilitation operations.6 UNCURK was wound up in 1973; UNKRA in 1960. The United Nations and the Korean War – the role of the
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