09-151.pdf

The Czech and Polish NNSC members wanted the letter that requested
the Commission to pay serious attention to the violation
“...and take corresponding measures” first to be handled and then
passed to the MAC. The Swedish-Swiss view was that the issue, like
the Honest John missiles and “atomic artillery” mentioned above, lay
outside the Commission’s mandate.
Previously, after North Korea had announced on February 5 and
China on February 7 that the CPV would leave before the end of 1958
and had expressed the hope that all foreign troops should leave Korea,
the North had in February-March attempted to use the NNSC as a
“political platform.” The US clarified that the allied nations did not
intend to withdraw the UN forces from South Korea prior to reunification.
On February 19, the NNSC received through the KPA/
CPV a joint statement by the North Korean and Chinese governments
made the same day stating that all Chinese troops would be withdrawn
before the end of the year. The Czech and Poles spoke positively about
the North’s good intentions, but the Swedish and Swiss opinion was
that such statements were political and should not be made in the
NNSC. It was decided to put the statement in the files. When the
KPA/CPV on March 14 proposed that the NNSC should “...supervise
and inspect...” the withdrawal, the Czech member was positive but the
proposal was rejected by the Swedish and Swiss members. The Polish
delegate then suggested that the issue should be removed from the
agenda “... since the discussion was fruitless.” In the end, the issue was
withdrawn.
In spite of the difficulties the NNSC had had to conduct its work,
when the Commission celebrated its fifth anniversary on August 1 the
Polish chairman emphasized “the significant contribution by the
104 Peace-keeping in the Korean Peninsula