P’anmunjom | Korea, History, Demilitarized Zone, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

P’anmunjŏm, village, central Korea, in the demilitarized zone established after the Korean War, 5 miles (8 km) east of Kaesŏng and 3 miles (5 km) south of the 38th parallel, on the Kyŏngŭi high road (from Seoul to Sinŭiju). It was the location of the truce conference that was held for two years (1951–53) between representatives of the United Nations forces and the opposing North Korean and Chinese armies during the war.

After the armistice, signed there July 27, 1953, both the liaison officers and the guards of the four countries forming the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, and Czechoslovakia) were located there. In 1968 the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo was seized off the North Korean coast by North Korean patrol boats, and its officers and crew were incarcerated and charged with espionage. P’anmunjŏm was then used as the negotiation site between the United States and North Korea, and the crew were released through the village. Subsequently, it has served as a meeting place for conferences between North and South Korea, including Red Cross conferences to establish means of communication and contact between people on either side of the truce line.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.