FROM WAR TO PEACE: A

PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE

KOREAN QUESTION
Woonsang Choi

Graduate Institute of Peace Studies

Kyunghee University
258-5 Bupyung 2-ri, Jinjob-up, Namyangju-shi,
Kyonggi-do 472-864
Korea

Dr. Woonsang Choi is Professor of Law, Graduate Institute of Peace Studies, Kyung Hee
University in Seoul, Korea. He served as Korean Ambassador to India, Egypt, Morocco,
Jamaica and the Caribbean. In 1954, during the Geneva Conference on Korean Unification,
he was Chief of the First Section of the Bureau of Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. He received an LL.B. from Seoul National University, an M.A. from Georgetown
University, and an LL.M and S.J.D. from Harvard University.

This paper analyzes the efforts made

by the international community for
the independence and unification
of Korea, the role of the United
Nations in the process, and the
prospects for Korean unification.
Close attention is given to the result
of the first political conference on
Korean unification held in Geneva
from April-June 1954, an event
whose importance should not be
underestimated despite the passage
of time. This paper affirms that the
conclusion of a peace treaty ending
the Korean Armistice will legally
restore peace to Korea from a state
of war. The next step would be to
work toward the peaceful unification
of Korea in accordance with longstanding U.N. principles based upon
the genuine self-determination by
the Korean people.

INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to focus on
the efforts made by the international
community for the independence and
unification of Korea, the role of the
United Nations in the process and the
prospects for Korean unification in
view of Chinas rise. In particular, close
attention will be paid to the result of
the first political conference on Korean
unification held in Geneva from April
26-June 15, 1954, an event whose
importance should not be underestimated despite the passage of time.
At the outset, reference must be
made to the outcome of the current Six
Party Talks on North Korean nuclear
disarmament and its relevance to our
subject in hand. Under the agreement

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

reached on February 13, 2007, North Korea would receive initial energy
assistance equal to 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil from South Korea for
shutting down and sealing the main nuclear reactor and related facilities
at Yongbyon within 60 days, to be confirmed by international inspectors
from the IAEA. For irreversibly disabling the reactor and declaring all
nuclear programs, North Korea will eventually receive another 950,000
tons of heavy fuel oil.
There are some misgivings about the future of the February 13 agreement. The nuclear program is the single negotiating card North Korea
has in its hands. Therefore, success or failure will largely depend on how
willing the United States is to have a give and take attitude for future
negotiations. On the other hand, it will be recalled that North Korea has
made it clear that it is one thing
There are some misgiv- to dismantle its nuclear facilities
ings about the future
and another to discard the nuclear
weapons it already has, which experts
of the February 13
agreement. The nuclear estimate to be six or seven.
In the past, North Korea has also
program is the single
sidestepped previous agreements,
negotiating card North
allegedly running a uranium-based
Korea has in its hands.
weapons program even as it froze a
plutonium-based one, which sparked
the most recent nuclear crisis in late 2002. At any rate, the recent six-nation
agreement provides that some of the six nations, the belligerents in the
Korean War, will hold a separate forum on negotiations for a permanent
peace settlement to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement that temporarily ended the Korean War. However, without a prior settlement of the
North Korean nuclear disarmament issue, it will be impossible to establish
a permanent peace in the Korean peninsula.
THE STATE OF WAR IN KOREA
Article 36 of the Regulations annexed to the Hague Convention with
respect to the Laws and Customs of War by Land of July 29, 1899, provides
that an armistice only suspends military operations by mutual agreement
between the belligerent parties. Any serious violation by one party endows

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

the other with the right of denunciation, justifying their immediate recommencement of hostilities (Article 40).
Article IV, paragraph 60 of the Korean Armistice Agreement provides
for a political conference of a higher level for both sides to settle through
negotiation the questions of the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Korea,
the peaceful settlement of the Korean question, etc.
At present, the stark reality is that Korea is still in a state of war under
international law. This state of war should be ended and it can be done
only by conclusion of a peace treaty at a peace conference attended by all
the belligerents concerned.
THE GENEVA PEACE CONFERENCE, 1954
Few people remember that a political conference for peace in Korea At present, the stark
was indeed held in Geneva from reality is that Korea is
April 26-June 15, 1954, more than still in a state of war
50 years ago. At the conference, the under international law.
Communist side was represented by This state of war should
North Korea, Communist China
be ended and it can be
and the Soviet Union (by special
done only by concluinvitation), while the United Nations
was represented by the United sion of a peace treaty
States, Republic of Korea (South at a peace conference
Korea), Australia, Belgium, Canada, attended by all the belColombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, ligerents concerned.
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New
Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand,
Turkey, and the United Kingdom, whose armed forces had participated
in the Korean War in accordance with the Security resolutions of June 25,
June 27 and July 7, 1950.
Under the General Assembly Resolution 711 (V11) of August 28, 1953,
the United Nations endorsed the Korean Armistice Agreement of July 27,
1953 and helped organize the Geneva Political Conference of 1954.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS IN KOREAN

UNIFICATION
Due to its long investment in Korean reunification since 1947 and its own
competence and authority under the Charter, it is only proper that the
United Nations should reconvene the peace conference and be instrumental in seeking lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. The peaceful
and just solution of the Korean Question is a serious concern to the entire
international community, not merely the nations involved in the current
Six-Party Talks on North Korea.
In fact, the solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis seems to lie in
offering North Korea a peace treaty in lieu of the non-aggression pact which
the reclusive state seeks in vain. There is no precedent of the United States
The peace treaty should concluding such a pact, making its
consent and ratification by the U.S.
fulfill Pyongyangs
Senate unlikely.
principal goal,
The peace treaty should also
regime survival.
fulfill Pyongyangs principal goal,
regime survival. To this end, North
Korea has been demanding the signing of a peace treaty since 1974, while
mistakenly pushing for a bilateral treaty with the United States.
THE U.N CONVENING THE SECOND PEACE
CONFERENCE
It is a time-honored rule of international law that a peace treaty is concluded by all involved nations. Specifically, this would refer to all the states
present at the Geneva Political Conference on Korea in 1954. However, in
a future conference, Japan may be invited due to its historical association
with Korea, just as the Soviet Union attended in 1954, although she did
not legally classify as a belligerent state in the Korean War.
In terms of procedure, the 16 member states of the United Nations
which supplied armed forces in the Korean War should present an agenda
item and a proper draft resolution to the forthcoming session of the United
Nations General Assembly. Other peace-loving states like Japan may also
participate as sponsors of the resolution.

10

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

The agenda of the peace conference must include all pending issues
relating to the Korean Question, including the recognition of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) by the United States and
Japan which, of course, presupposes a prior and final solution of the North
Korean nuclear issue and other related matters.
The establishment of full diplomatic relations with the United States
and Japan is what the DPRK has direly wanted for a long time and could
serve as an inducement for North Korean cooperation. Specifically, the
agenda may include:
1. matters pertaining to permanent peace and order between South
and North Korea, including the unification formula;
2. the demilitarized border between the ROK and DPRK which should
follow the demarcation line as defined in the Korean Armistice Agreement;
3. replacement of the U.N. forces by a suitable peace-keeping force or
an observer team;
4. international inspection and verification of nuclear and missile development programs, as well as the manufacturing of weapons of mass
destruction and terrorist training, in both South and North Korea;
5. exchange of prisoners of war, refugees and abducted civilians;
6. return of the remains of U.N. soldiers killed or missing in action;
7. recognition of the DPRK by the states which have not yet done
so;
8. state succession of treaties, whereby each state maintains its treaty
and other international obligations. In this way, the issue of U.S.
forces withdrawing from South Korea will not arise, as the ROK will
continue to maintain its treaty obligations under the Mutual Defense
Treaty with the United States;
9. the establishment of a High Commission or representative mission
in the South by the North, and vice versa;
10. economic assistance to North Korea by the United States, Japan,
international organizations, including the ADB, IBRD, and IMF,
as well as the international community as a whole;

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

11

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

11. return of abducted persons, particularly those from Japan;

12. endorsement of this General Assembly resolution by the Security
Council;
13. stationing of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations in Korea to monitor and assist in the implementation of the resolution; and,
14. all other pending issues.
North Korea may object to the concept of a multilateral peace treaty
due first to their ignorance of international propriety, and second, because
of their specious allegation that the peace treaty would permanently divide
the Korean people. Such an allegation is absolutely unfounded, when one
considers the facts:
(1) as of 2006, the ROK maintained diplomatic relations with 185
states, while the DPRK has diplomatic relations with 154 states.
There are 150 states that recognize both the ROK and DPRK.
(2) The ROK has joined 91 international and inter-governmental organizations which only a state can join, while the DPRK is a member
of 30 such organizations; and,
(3) both sides are member states of the United Nations which only a
state can join.
In Korean history, the three Kingdoms of Silla, Goguryo and Baekje
coexisted on the Korean Peninsula. Silla gained prominence by unifying
Korea. At present, under international law, the ROK and DPRK coexist as
two states on the same territory. Every policy or plan must proceed from
acknowledgement of this stark reality. Above all, that reality urgently calls
for the restoration of a condition of peace from a state of war symbolized
by the Korean Armistice Agreement. This is the first step toward the peaceful unification of Korea.

12

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

LESSONS FROM 1954 GENEVA CONFERENCE

The United Nations has a firm stake in what happens on the Korean Peninsula, having been actively involved in the independence of the Republic
of Korea, sending armed forces to repel the Communist aggressors in the
early 1950s, helping rehabilitate the war-ravaged South and spending years
for the reunification of Korea in accordance with democratic principles.
At Geneva, throughout the Conference, the 16 allied delegations had
regarded it as indispensable to a reasonable Korean settlement:
(a) that the United Nations would have a primary role in bringing
about that settlement;
(b) that genuinely free Korean elections, with proportionate representation for North and South Korea, would be held; and,
(c) that forces of the United Nations would remain in Korea until
the mission of the United Nations had been accomplished by the
creation of a unified, independent, and democratic Government of
Korea.
In accordance with these United Nations principles, ROK Foreign
Minister Y.T. Pyun presented on May 22, 1954, the more specific proposal
to advance the possibility of a peaceful unification of Korea. The Pyun
proposal, which consisted of 14 points, called principally for:
(a) the holding of free elections in North and South Korea under
United Nations supervision within six months on the basis of a secret
ballot and universal adult suffrage;
(b) the taking of a census under United Nations supervision with a view
to apportioning the number of representatives in exact proportion
to the population in the election areas;
(c) complete freedom of movement and speech for United Nations
supervisory personnel and for election candidates;
(d) maintenance in force of the constitution of the Republic of Korea
subject to amendment by the all-Korea legislature to be convened
in Seoul immediately after the elections;
(e) completion of the withdrawal of Chinese Communist troops one
month in advance of the election date;

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

13

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

(f) commencement of a withdrawal of United Nations forces which

would be completed when complete control had been achieved
throughout Korea by the unified government and certified by the
United Nations; and,
(g) a guarantee of the territorial integrity and independence of a unified
Korea by the United Nations.
This ROK proposal, which seeks the unity and security of Korea on
the basis of genuine self-determination by the Korean people, has been the
official unification policy of the ROK Government. It still remains in force
and differs radically from the Joint Declaration of President Kim Dae-jung
and Chairman Kim Jong-il dated June 15, 2000, which foresees the unification of Korea under confederation or federation of a lower stage.
The latter agreement is not based on the rule of self-determination
by the people as enunciated by the
The Communist posiUnited Nations Charter and the
tion on the unification
1970 U.N. Declaration on Principles
of International Law Concerning
of Korea rejected any
Friendly Relations and Cooperation
formula which would
Among States in Accordance with the
permit unification on
Charter of the United Nations.
the basis of genuinely
The Communist position on
free elections supervised the unification of Korea, presented
under the auspices of
in Geneva by Soviet Foreign Minthe United Nations.
ister Molotov, Communist Chinese
Foreign Minister Chou En-lai, and
North Korean Foreign Minister Nam Il rejected any formula which would
permit unification on the basis of genuinely free elections supervised under
the auspices of the United Nations.
The only formula to which the Communists would agree was one in
which they would be able to exercise a veto over the unification process.
Although they employed such phrases as free elections, proportional
representations, and impartial supervision of elections, they insisted on
arrangements which would have enabled them to prevent free elections
from ever taking place.
In particular, in proposing an all-Korean Commission to arrange for

14

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

elections, they demanded that there be equal representation form North

and South Korea on the Commission, and that decisions in the Commission be made only on the basis of mutual agreement.
This would permit the North Korean delegates, representing an
undemocratic regime exercising control over much less than one-third of
the Korean population, to veto decisions of the non-Communist majority
enjoying democratic rights.
In this regard, it is very interesting to note that on June 15, 1954, the
last day of the Geneva Conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Chou Enlai presented a formal resolution proposing that the states participating in
the Geneva Conference agree to continue their efforts toward achieving a
peaceful settlement of the Korean question, and that the time and place
for resuming appropriate negotiations be determined separately through
negotiation by the states concerned.
In the closing moments of the Conference, the Communist side
attempted to put this proposal to a vote. The Chairman, Anthony Eden,
British Foreign Secretary, then ruled that since the Conference had no
established voting procedure, the Chou proposal would simply be included
in the Conference records. This procedure was followed with respect to all
other proposals at the Conference as well.
KOREA, CHINA AND THE BALANCE OF POWER
The late Professor Hans J. Morgenthau of the University of Chicago, the
modern founder of the realist school of international relations, cited the
case of Korea as a perfect example of the balance of power theory. Because
of its geographic location in proximity of China, Korea has existed as an
autonomous state for most of its long history by virtue of the control or
intervention of its powerful neighbors. Whenever the power of China was
not sufficient to protect the autonomy of Korea, another nation, generally
Japan, would try to gain a foothold on the Korean peninsula. Since the
first century B.C, the international status of Korea has by and large been
determined either by Chinese supremacy or by rivalry between China and
Japan.
The very unification of Korea in the seventh century was a result
of Chinese intervention. From the thirteenth century to the decline of

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

15

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

Chinese power in the nineteenth century, Korea stood in a relationship of

subservience to China as its suzerain and accepted Chinese leadership in
politics and culture. From the end of the sixteenth century, Japan, after
it had invaded Korea without lasting success, opposed the claim of China
and instead, insisted on its own claim to control of Korea. Japan was able
to make good on that claim as a result of its victory in the Sino-Japanese
war of 1894-95.
Then, Japan was challenged in its control of Korea by Russia, and from
1896 on, the influence of Russia became dominant. The rivalry between
Japan and Russia for control of Korea ended with the defeat of Russia
in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. Japanese control of Korea, thus
firmly established, was terminated with the defeat of Japan in the Second
World War.
From then on, the United States
replaced
Japan as a check upon
The latest move by the
current administration of Russian ambitions in Korea. China,
the ROK government to by intervening in the Korean War,
resumed its traditional interest in
dissolve the U.S-Korea
the control of Korea. Thus, for more
Joint Forces Command, than two thousand years, the fate
which would result in
of Korea has been a function either
a dramatic weakening
of the predominance of one nation
of the alliance, is a fatal controlling Korea, or of a balance of
power between two or more nations
mistake.
competing for that control. By dint
of history and geography, Korea is
surrounded by such major powers as China, Russia and Japan.
Korea alone is incapable of meeting the challenges from these powerful
neighbors. Fortunately, as a consequence of the joint efforts during the
Korean War and Vietnam War, as well as the continuing threat from North
Korea, Korea and the United Sates have become allies under the KoreaU.S. Mutual Defense Treaty. The practical modality for the alliance is the
U.S-Korea Joint Forces Command and the United Nations Command
established by the Security Council resolution of July 7, 1950.
The latest move by the current administration of the ROK government
to dissolve the U.S-Korea Joint Forces Command, which would result in

16

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE KOREAN QUESTION

a dramatic weakening of the alliance, is a fatal mistake. The Republic of

Korea needs the United States as an ally to balance the major powers surrounding Korea at present and in the future.
CONCLUSION
The Geneva Conference on Korea was held at the height of the Cold War.
The situation surrounding Korea today is radically different from what it was
in 1954. The Cold War has ended. The ROK has full diplomatic relations
with Russia and China. Both the ROK and DPRK are member states of the
United Nations and as such, have the legal obligation to follow the resolutions of the U.N. organs. Article 2 (5) of the Charter provides that:
All Members shall give the United Nations every assistance in any action
it takes in accordance with the present Charter, and shall refrain from
giving assistance to any state against which the United Nations is taking
preventive or enforcement action.

There is a reasonable possibility that China and Russia have now

become rational enough to follow the resolutions of the United Nations on
Korea. The peace treaty will legally restore peace to Korea from the state of
war. The next step is to work toward the peaceful unification of Korea in
accordance with long-standing U.N. principles which are based upon the
genuine self-determination of the Korean people. The U.N. principles are
reasonable and deserve a renewed effort for their implementation.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL ON WORLD PEACE

VOL. XXIV NO. 1 MARCH 2007

17