Korean Armistice Agreement

Historical Overview

The signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in Panmunjom brought an end to over three years of active hostilities in the Korean War. The primary strategic and geopolitical objective of the agreement, brokered between the United Nations Command (led by the U.S.), the North Korean People's Army, and the Chinese People's Volunteers, was to freeze the conflict based on the military status quo along the Military Demarcation Line near the 38th parallel. The accord established the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that persists today. Because South Korean President Syngman Rhee refused to sign the document and no formal peace treaty was ever finalized, the two Koreas technically remain in a state of war.