The Rise and Fall of Detente on the Korean Peninsula, 1970-1974: A Critical Oral History For the July 2010 Conference organized by: The North Korea International Documentation Project The University of North Korean Studies With Financial Support from: The Korea Foundation North Korea International Documentation Project Woodrow Wilson Center One Woodrow Wilson Plaza 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20004-3027 Email: [email protected] Tel: (202) 691-4305 Inter-Korean Relations 1970-1974 Chronology of Events 1969 25 July At a speech delivered in Guam, President Richard Nixon informally announces the Nixon Doctrine, a new American foreign policy whereby the United States expected its allies to take care of their own military defense, but that the U.S. would aid in defense when needed. October After nearly two years of pursuing an adventurist reunification policy, Pyongyang announces that the policy of peaceful reunification would be renewed. 1-5 December Central Committee Plenum of Korean Workers Party held. It is announced that the 5th Party Congress will be held in October of 1970. 11 December KAL flight from Gangneung to Seoul is hijacked and taken to Pyongyang. 1970 18 February President Nixon issues a report to Congress confirming the Nixon Doctrine. 26 March The Nixon administration informs the South Korean government of its plan to withdraw 20,000 troops, or one-third of its forces in South Korea 27 March Kim Dae-Jung, the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) Presidential candidate writes a letter expressing his political views and concerns to Vice President Spiro Agnew after his visit to Washington D.C. 5-7 April Zhou Enlai, Premier of the Republic of China, visits Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Il Sung expresses his gratitude for Beijing’s support during the Korean War and discusses shared Sino-DPRK interests and concerns. The visit worries the Soviets, who hope not to be outdone by China and subsequently send several diplomatic representatives to Pyongyang through the summer. 5 June A South Korean naval broadcasting vessel is attacked and captured by the North in the Yellow Sea south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL). 15 June Samdech Norodom Sihanouk, Head of the State of Cambodia and Chairman of the Cambodian National Unification Front, visits Pyongyang. Kim Il Sung renews his support for the Cambodian people’s struggle against the United States. 22 June A bomb explodes at the main gate of Seoul National Cemetery. Evidence indicates that the bomb was supposed to go off during a presidential visit to the cemetery marking the anniversary of the Korean War. 28 June A North Korean agent boat is discovered and disabled by the South Korean army, navy and air units near Incheon harbor. The North Korean crew escapes to a nearby island, most die in a firefight later in the day. 3 July Korean Foreign Minister Choi Kyu-Hah meets with U.S. officials and expresses his objection to U.S. troop withdrawal. 9 July The withdraw of 20,000 U.S. troops from the Republic of Korea is officially announced by the Nixon administration 23 July President Park delivers a speech at the ROK National War College graduation ceremony opposing the withdrawal of US troops for the first time in public. 7 August President Park and General John H. Michaelis meet about troop withdrawals, the modernization of the ROK military and bilateral U.S.-ROK talks. 15 August In the Liberation Day speech, President Park cautiously proposes a new unification policy, which reflects South Korea’s desire to engage in ‘peaceful competition’ with the North. Soviet Deputy Premier Mazurov visits Pyongyang and is coolly received. 24 August U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew meets President Park in Seoul 7 September Prime Minister Chong Il-Kwon delivers a statement to the National Assembly to reassure the government’s absolute authority over the issues of unification without being swayed by public opinion 1 October President Park delivers a speech on the 22nd Anniversary of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Day. He emphasizes the importance of the continued strengthening of the ROK Armed Forces 16 October At a press conference, Kim Dae-Jung harshly criticizes the Park government and outlines his principal policies that he will advocate during his campaign 21 October USSR and allies create a draft resolution discussing the issues regarding the admission of both North and South Korea into the United Nations. Late October- Kim Dae-Jung (unofficially) campaigns heavily as the NDP candidate for Early November president, drawing large crowds and discussing specific policies of the DRP publically on the streets. 2-13 November At the Fifth Korean Workers’ Party (KWP) Congress, Kim Il Sung announces the successful completion of the First Seven-Year Plan (1961-1967) after a three-year extension. He announces a new Six-Year Plan to take place from 1971 to 1976. 13 November First Plenum of the KWP Central Committee is held in Pyongyang 14 November Kim Dae-Jung delivers speech slamming President Park’s government for corruption of high-ranking officials, KCIA power, and corruption in the Homeland Reserve Force. 3 December North Korean Major Pak Sun-Kuk crash lands a MiG-15 in South Korea and defects. 4 December Vice President Agnew and Foreign Minister Choi Kyu-Ha meet and discuss aid, fishing and poaching problems, and, briefly, North Korea. 19-21 December President Park changes out his cabinet members, including the replacement of KCIA Director Kim Kye-Won by Lee Hurak 27 December US Charge d’affaires and Lee Hu-Rak meet over breakfast, discussing the option of allowing North Korean Major Park to decide where he wants to remain if the DPRK allows the KAL crew and passengers abducted in December, 1970 to do the same. 1971 1 January Kim Il Sung delivers New Year Address praising the accomplishment of the past year and encouraging the North Korean people to reach the goal of the new six-year plan 11 January At a New Year press conference, President Park Chung Hee indicates that the ROK is willing to improve relations with non-hostile Communist countries 24 February South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs lifts restrictions on social contact with non-hostile communist countries 28 March The North Korean mission to Sri Lanka is expelled from Colombo on suspicion that the North had supported armed anti-government guerrillas 8-14 April At the Fifth Session of the fourth Supreme Peoples’ Assembly, North Korean Foreign Minister Heo Dam presents the “8 Points,” announcing the DPRK’s policy of reunifying the peninsula through peaceful means, mostly a reiteration of the formulations dating back to 1963 and revived in 1969. 19-23 April Second Plenum of the KWP Central Committee is held in Pyongyang 27 April Park Chung Hee wins presidential election, defeating Kim Dae-Jung by a margin 29-30 April Sixth Session of the Fourth Supreme People’s Assembly is held in Pyongyang May Kim Dae-Jung is injured in a car accident, thought to possibly be an assassination attempt 9-15 June Kim Il Sung welcomes Party and Government Delegation of the Romanian Socialist Republic headed by Nicolae Ceausescu, Secretary General of the Romanian Communist Party. 23 June US National Security decision memorandum assures no plans for more redeployment of troops from South Korea beyond the 20,000 to be completed by June 30, 1971. 29 June-4 July US Vice President Spiro Agnew visits Seoul 3 July Soviet Deputy Premier Mazurov heads a delegation to Pyongyang celebrating the tenth anniversary of Soviet-DPRK Mutual Assistance Treaty. 9 July US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger visits Beijing 15 July US President Richard Nixon’s trip to China is formally announced 26 July President Park calls for National Unity during a speech to the National Assembly where he stresses the tensions that surround Korea. 30 July During a visit to Beijing, DRPK Vice Premier Kim Il requests that Chinese officials deliver a different “8 Points” to Henry Kissinger which deal with international issues and the withdrawal of U.S. troop from Korea. 12 August At a press conference Choe Doo-Seon, the president of the Red Cross organization of South Korea, proposes a meeting between representatives from the organizations of the Red Cross in the North and South to discuss the reunification of families divided by the Korean War. 14 August North Korea’s Red Cross accepts the South Korean proposal to hold talks. 23 August South Korean special unit 684, a group of death-row inmates trained on Silmi Island to assassinate Kim Il Sung in revenge for 1968 Blue House Raid assassination attempt against Park Chung Hee, mutinied upon learning that their mission had been scuttled and that they would be killed. 2 September President Nixon approves in principle the five-year Korea Modernization Program September Kim Il Sung says that he will not abide by any resolution passed by the United Nations as the organization was a tool of American imperialists 20 September After 5 meetings of messengers from the North and South, the first round of preliminary Red Cross negotiations begin. 21 September South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Yong-Sik meets with the Secretary of State William P. Rogers to discuss President Nixon’s visit to China, North/South Talks, and South Korean troop withdrawal from Vietnam 6 October Third Session of the Preliminary Talks between the North-South Red Cross Delegations 15 October President Park garrisons army units in Seoul and troops occupy ten college campuses 20 October Henry Kissinger meets with Zhou En-Lai for the second time. 22 October Zhou En-Lai delivers Kim Il’s “8 Points” to Henry Kissinger, who responds negatively.