Korean War Exhibit 5 Armistice talks began a1 Koesorg ht July 1951 t th
Nor
and South Korea were willing to fight on,n, but cher iv2fve
months of large-scale but indecisive conflict, their Cold War
supporters—the Peoples Republic of Chino and the Soviet
Union on one side, the United States and its UN affies on the
other—had concluded it was not in their respective interests
y� to continue. The chief negotiator for the UN was Arreric°n
a `y Vice Adm. C. Turner Jay, his counterpart was U. Gen. Nom
II, the chief of staff of the Nor* Korean People's Army. At •
_ the first session it was agreed that military operations could
continue until an armistice agreement was actually signed.
The front lines remained relatively quiet, though, as the
opposing sides adopted a cautious wakh-and-wait stance.
A squad from 2d Battalion, 23d Infantry, moves
out from bunker positions of Kumgang-son, Lt Gen. James A. Van Fleets Eighth Army hod Fortified its
January 1952, positions along Line Kansas and along Line Wyoming, a
bulge north of Kansas in the westcentralarea known as the Iron Triangle. Both the Kansas line in the east and the
Wyoming bulge were above the 38th Parallel, the prewar boundary between the two Koreas. On the west, the
# e o front line dipped below the 38th Parallel north of Seoul, the South Korean capital, and then continued b fall 2d infantry D virion medic neon a
wounded American soldier February
toward the coast. This uneven line led to the first impasse in negotiations, when the North Korean and Chinese 1952.
side argued that the armistice line should be the 38th Parallel, while the UN negotiators called for a line reflecting
current positions, which they argued were more defensible and secure than the old border.
When the Communist side broke off negotiations on 23 August General Matthew B. Ridgway s United Nations -
_ _ Command (UNC) responded with a limited new offensive. General Van Fleet sent the U.S. X Corps and the Republic
of Korea (ROK) I Corps to gain terrain objectives in east-centro) Korea five to seven miles north of Kansas—among
them places that resonate with veterans, such as the Punchbowl, Bloody Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge In the west.
five UN divisions (the ROK I st the 1 st British Commonwealth, and the U.S. 1 st Cavalry and 3d and 25th Infantry)
„ struck northwest aloe a forty-mile mile front to secure a new y Wyoming
Armistice talks begin as KOesortg. 9 �Y" position beyond the W min line k
protect the vital Seoul-Ch'orwon railway. The U.S. IX Corps followed by driving even
ConrMmisr side breaks off negotiations .
farther north to the edge of Kumsong.
- - - - - si 'Ar•- -Y- "
- N" Korean ,>bntdan Bloody Ridge. ohm 11N forces, led By the last week of October the
by U.S. 2d Warory Divisions Sit Wm*.ry asAO4 it • . : • • UN's objectives had been -
secured, and on the 25th the y
2d ='e . Division, using the 72d Tank Battalion to armistice elks resumed—now
• _ _ _ _ _ _ ^sage, seizes fiearfbreak Ridge- at Panmunjom, a hamlet six -
«- 1 ' miles east of Koesong. When the
• - F = drvisions advance to line Jamestown, some North Koreans and Chinese dropped
is _ - -+.les beyond the Wyoming line, to protect the - - - - their demand that the armistice line be Members of Compony f 160th Infantry, are
Seoul-Ch'orvae raiVwvy — the 38th Parallel, the two sides agreed on briefed prior to going on a reconnaissance
27 November that the armistice demarcation - patrol °fang the from lines, June 1952.
• Arxmskce tatin nm&ume, aw at P'onmuniom line would be the existing line of contact,
Hungnam° provided that an armistice agreement was
Generc = - - commander, instructs reached in thirty days. A lull now settled over the
Gene= = gtth Army offensive battlefield, as fighting tapered off to patrols, small
oyercV a - - c c a__ _-.e 'octive defense.' Wonsan - raids, and small unit (but often bitterly fought) struggles Soldiers enjoy New year s /eslmfies, January n
for outpost positions. When the thirty-day deadline came 1952.
Gese.ol Morris W Cloak assumes command of the •'YONGYANG and went, as negotiations stalled over the exchange of -
t1NC - _ prisoners of war, among other issues, both sides tacitly extended their acceptance of the armistice line agreement.
Kumsong Demilitarized Zone The continuing absence of large-scale combat allowed the UNC to make several battlefield adjustments, withdrawing
UN dele9w a*, indefinite recess to 27 Jul 1953the U.S. 1 st Cavalry and 24th Infantry Divisions from Korea between December 1951 and February 1952 and
o^^rsnce ra - ^g a100 lock of any • y replacing them with the 40th and 45th Infantry Divisions, tie first National Guard divisions toserve in the war.
sxogress. General Van Fleet also shifted UN units along the front in the spring of 1952, giving more defensive responsibility to
U. Gash. McD Toytw sakes +>Dmmarsd of the ti.- the ROK Army in order to concentrate greater U.S. strength in the west.
591
~T ' Meanwhile, the For East Air Forces intensified a bombing campaign begun in August 1951 , supported by U.S.
Ans:issitA Bois: °WU0 again naval fire and carrier-based aircraft. In August 1952 the largest air raid of the war was carried out against hrhmetry troaPs board heTxaplers iron Ate 6th
SEOUL Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Both sides exchanged heavy artillery Fire through 1952, and in June the T tic Con
^ boy^ opt3. parry, U.S.
45th Division, in response to increased Chinese ground action, engaged in an intense period of fighting with the ErylsM Mny, Apil 1953.
Gs_ess_s�etryy Thsybr obondons Podw rk Chop He s of • � Chinese, successfully establishing eleven new patrol bases along its front. By the beginning of 1953, however, the
o'i�6rdhs0 Otl"oy' to �rf1°� °S mOs Inchon larger picture was still one of continuing military stalemate, with few changes in the front lines, reflecting the s
deadlock in the armistice talks that had led the UN delegation to call an indefinite recess in October 1952.
Ck.wese lohrscf+ o xx-dmswnent anagainst ROK II ,- . 6- Oson
Ceres and U.S. IK Corps sourtt of Kurnsong after B' U. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor took command of the Eighth Army on 11 February 1953. By March he was faced with _
lit'lir^g beck sexsee Night +rites to betow Ike Kumsong � renewed enemy attacks against his frontline outposts. Despite the fact that the armistice talks had resumed on 26
ti -�
ter. UN fares regain th
rege ksgh ground ai" the April, accompanied by a major exchange of sick and wounded UN and enemy prisoners, flare-ups occurred again
river in late May and on 10 June, when three Chinese divisions attacked the ROK II Corps defending the UN forward "
j' • position just south of Kumsong. By 18 June the terms of a final armistice agreement were almost settled, but when
Ataseice oByoe°wat
is srgryd or 1000. ON kyhting Taejon South Korean President Syngman Rhee unilaterally allowed same 27,000 North Korean prisoners who had
h eb is *A411" tresss kyesr. bask sides have three days ! expressed a desire to stay in the South to "escape," the final settlement was further delayed. The Chinese seized on
kibwwers fronts Ike cease-fire line l• this delay to begin a new offensive to try to improve their final front line. On 6 July they launched an attack on Pork
i Taegu Chop Hill, a 7th Division outpost, and on the 13th they again attacked the ROK II Corps south of Kumwng (as well
% as Ike right flank of the IX Corps), forcing the UN forces to withdraw about eight miles, to below the Kumsong River.
The Campaignsp/• \ By 20 July however, the Eighth Army had
C1tF u retaken the high ground along the river,
�� M peso^ where it established a new defensive line.
U. Gen. William K. Hanson. A., signs die
44sty - 27 tle re esba•
\` As the UN counterattack was ending, the armisticem
Ce for the United Nations at p'anunjom,
a.. s 7 armistice—
Panmunjom negotiators reached an overall 27 July 1953.
"WANOWAM ,_ agreement on 19 July. After settling
remaining details, they signed the armistice
2e "ve,.tsoa 1951 -20 APPN 1952 _+ ■ agreement of 10 o'clock on the morning of
.r - ® • 27 July. All fighting stopped twelve hours
•,+- -..•, - ■ later. The ceasefire demarcation line ��
J , / \ f &:411P approximated the final front It ranged from - " 'r--
�• forty miles above the 38th Parallel on Ike t " - -
~a_r3t: ~� � •' ' �0 nr '- east coast to twenty miles below the parallel .,at 'j h
s ' ' on the west coast It was slightly more 'f
�.1. favorable ro North Korea than the tentative i
■ armistice line of November radar but
compar■ amounted to am prewar boundary, s
1952- 3* arrg s 9� ��� amounted ro a North Korean not loss of
IY�ssd •sshnss Mmy (wrhMr d f4ase.y Hisrery —tea some 1 .500 'Cloole miles Within three
lapwa tsetse K. lasweson . day: of signing both sides were requir«I
G"01060VI 14d% MxKwhzr . withdrew two kilometerto
e ceaser Ironh th -fire l
sea 7 z t h h 0 line The resulting demilitarized zone has U• Garr Nam it r Ase
Y v f 4 : Y �\ TM Yin Nlbes 'Drs arrmJSlJse Jet /ha
been on uneasy heelity in international communise of Pameunpm. 27 pis. 195.7.
Par6dpoNng UNC Force ralnherhs tont unto