July 27, 1953 Panmunjom . 10:00
a.m. There was none of the thrilling drama of
other peace parleys. The truce building was
constructed in seventy-two hours by a com-
munist work force of some 400 men who work-
ed through the night. The chief negotiators
took ten minutes to sign 18 official copies of
the Korean Armistice Agreement. Without
speaking, communist and UNC represen-
tatives rose, walked out separate doors, and
ended the longest armistice negotiations in
history 500 meetings spread over two years
and 17 days. Several hours later, General
Mark Clark, Commander in Chief of the
United Nations Command, Kim Il Sung of the
north Korean People's Army, and Peng Teh-
Huai of the Chinese People's Volunteers affix-
ed their signatures to the documents at their
individual headquarters behind the lines. At
10:00 p.m. that evening, the truce went into ef-
fect.
The Korean Armistice Agreement is uni-
que. Upon its promulgation, there was no ex-
change of amenities by either side. The condi-
tions of this agreement are intended to be
purely military in character and to pertain
solely to the opposing military forces in
Korea. A unique feature of the Korean Ar-
mistice Agreement is that no nation is a
signatory to the Agreement. The Commander
in Chief, United Nations Command signed the
Armistice Agreement on behalf of the unified
command consisting of the military forces
from 16 member nations and the Republic of
Korea. The Communist commanders signed
the agreement on behalf of the military forces
of north Korea and the Chinese People's
Volunteer forces.