By Donna Reuss
At 10 a.m. on July 27, 1953, representatives of the United Nations Command, the Korean People’s Army, and the Chinese People’s Volunteers met in Panmunjom, South Korea. War had raged on the Korean Peninsula since June 25, 1950, when North Korean forces crossed the demarcation line at the thirty-eighth parallel and invaded South Korea. Finally, after three years of fierce battles and stalled negotiations, they signed the Korean Armistice Agreement, ending the fighting. While not a signatory, South Korea implicitly approved the agreement. But technically, North and South Korea are still at war. How can this be?
By definition, an armistice is strictly a military document, an agreement between opposing sides in a war to suspend hostilities, usually for an indefinite period. It is not a permanent peace agreement, or treaty, between governments to legally end a conflict. Some of you may remember that November 11 – now Veterans Day – was originally called “Armistice Day”. On that day in 1918, Germany ceased military hostilities with an armistice agreement, but the 1919 Treaty of Versailles officially ended World War I.
The Korean Armistice, then, was a temporary measure to suspend open hostilities until a final peaceful settlement could be reached. Among its provisions, it created the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and established the Military Armistice Commission and other agencies to ensure both sides adhered to the terms of the agreement.
However, tensions continued. North Korea announced that it would cease participating in the Military Armistice Commission in 1994; China withdrew five months later.
In April 2018, the North and South Korean governments adopted the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula, agreeing to cooperate on officially ending the Korean War. But again, claiming escalating military provocations, North Korea suspended the agreement in November 2023. South Korea followed suit in June 2024. Extensive US military presence continues in South Korea, with nine major bases and upwards of thirty-six thousand active-duty troops, while the DMZ remains one of the most dangerous areas on earth. The armistice stopped the fighting, but a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula appears more unlikely than ever.
On July 27, we celebrate National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day. This year, Alexandria Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 609 and Outpost International 5845, Society of the 3rd Infantry Division, will honor the day and our Korean War veterans with the 72nd Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Day Commemoration. The event is open to the public and will be held on Sunday, July 27, at 8:30am, at the Alexandria National Cemetery, 1450 Wilkes Street.
North Korea also commemorates the date, as a national holiday known as Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War.
Additionally, after a successful campaign last year to honor Alexandria’s Vietnam War casualties with remembrance name plaques installed at the Monument to the City’s War Dead from all Wars at the Alexandria railway station and at the Gadsby’s Tavern complex on Cameron Street, VFW Post 609, the Office of Historic Alexandria, and local Veterans Service Organizations have launched Phase 2 of their fund-raising campaign, to install name plaques for those Alexandrians who perished in World War II and the Korean War. The goal is to install the plaques on Memorial Day, May 25, 2026.
To donate to this effort, mail your tax-deductible contribution check, made out to City of Alexandria, to: Office of Historic Alexandria, 220 N. Washington Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. Or donate online at https://secure.qgiv.com/event/vfwplaquesalx/.
Special thanks to VFW 609 Commander Jerry Krueger for contributing to this column.
If you are a veteran, veteran’s family member, or know a veteran who needs help, go to Virginia Board Veterans Services at www.dvs.virginia.gov/dvs; dss.virginia.gov/community/211.cgi; contact American Legion Post 24 Veteran Service Officer at [email protected]; or check out the Resources List on the Post 24 website at valegionpost24.com. For crisis intervention and suicide prevention services, dial 988 and Press 1, or text 838255, for the Veterans Crisis Line.
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