• The Korean War was a war between North Korea and South Korea. The war began on 25 June 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea following a series of clashes along the border. • During 1950-1953 more than one state parties entered to aid both North Korea and South Korea. This includes the involvement of The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, coming to the aid of South Korea. China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union also gave some assistance to the North. • The fighting eventually ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no peace treaty has been signed, and according to some sources the two Koreas are technically still at war, engaged in a frozen conflict. • Finally on April 2018, the leaders of North and South Korea met at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and agreed to sign a treaty by the end of the year to formally end the Korean War. What Is The Korean Peace Treaty? (Panmunjom Declaration) • On April 27 2018, Korean leaders Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un signed the Panmunjom Declaration in an effort to end the temporary armistice and call for a new era of peace between the two nations. • The Panmunjom Declaration, which states “there will be no more war on the Korean peninsula,” was made public following the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit, marking a momentous shift in Korean history. • The Declaration said each side would cease propaganda broadcasts, hold regular military meetings, and take other measures to reduce tensions along the border and turn the Demilitarized Zone into a “peace zone”. • Creating a peace zone in the Dematerialized Zone could also mean the removal of guard posts and landmines. Panmunjom Declaration In A Nutshell An Analysis To The Korean Treaty • The summit can be seen as a success due to the raft of positive agreements struck. • However, these agreements need to be critically evaluated, and they fall into three categories: • First, the agreement that are easily undone but good for inter-Korean morale; • Second the agreement which have the potential to bring about enduring positive change; • Lastly the agreement that sound good but are insubstantial. More Analysis • Referring to the first group, both North Korea and South Korea have agreed to resume reunions of family members separated by the Korean War, set up a liaison office in Kaesong (North Korea), and refrain from hostile action at the borders. These signal improving North-South relations but can easily be undone if disputes arise. • On to the Second group, both sides pledged to seek a peace treaty replacing the Korean War armistice via multilateral consultations with China and the United States. Such a treaty would be a game changer on the peninsula as it would strongly encourage good behavior from North Korea, and indirectly assure the security. However, winning the approval of the Trump administration for Washington’s signing of this treaty is contingent upon the DPRK’s denuclearization. • On to the last group, the joint declaration signed by both parties at the summit commits both North and South to seek complete denuclearization. This appears grand but is ultimately vague, open to misinterpretations, and has no set time frame. Looking to the past, based on North Korean’s poor track record in honoring nuclear disarmament agreements, there exists much skepticism about whether Kim will verifiably disarm and if he ultimately insists on retaining nuclear arms, all the progress from this declaration might well collapse. How the Treaty Influence Regional and International Security • The Panmunjom Declaration signed by both parties on April 27 is phrased in rather broad and general terms. Fundamentally, the spirit of national reconciliation evident in the declaration is arguably the same as the sentiments shared by both parties during their earlier two summits, in 2000 and 2007. However, some parts stand out due to deeper implications, such as sub statement one of point one where, “both sides agreed to… fully implement all existing agreements and declarations adopted between the two sides thus far.” • This line implies that Pyongyang has renewed its commitment to the 1992 Joint Declaration on the Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. This could potentially be used in future nuclear negotiations to prevent Northern delegations from stalling. • Another noteworthy sub point is sub statement two of point three where “South and North Korea agreed to carry out (conventional) disarmament in a phased manner, as military tension is alleviated and substantial progress is made in military confidence building.” From a South Korean national security standpoint, this raises eyebrows because the South Korean military is numerically inferior to the Korean People’s Army and any force reduction might exponentially weaken the South to the North’s advantage. Therefore, the chance for both parties to reconsider balancing their military troops is difficult to verify, and may never be realized. In Conclusion • As we can see that there lies a commitment from both parties to enter a world of peace between them. • South Korea and North Korea are more interconnected and become closer to each other. • Allowing people to visit each other, would be a really dramatic change and would change the whole dynamic of the Korean peninsula. • The goal of Nuclear disarmament and the fact that they reached a peace arrangement where they normalize relations with South Korea, these two steps would be a massive change in international relations, changing the dynamic of northeast Asia.