09-151.pdf

On August 23, the American government announced that the
North’s regret was “a positive step.” At the NNSC meeting held on
August 24, the Swedish delegate urged the parties to maintain peace
within the JSA and by all means prevent a recurrence. In every way, the
NNSC’s important work had to be facilitated and the parties had to
cooperate to reduce tension. The Swiss delegate supported his statement
whereas the Czech and Polish refrained from saying anything.
Since the North’s regret did not include an “assurance” for the safety of
UNC personnel in the JSA as the UNC Commander had requested, at
the 380th MAC meeting called by the UNC/MAC convened on August
25 the parties decided to resolve the issue through negotiations.
Clearly, in line with the “game theory” there was an opportunity to get
out of the zero-sum play so far experienced at meetings and create a
win-win situation by negotiating.
At this meeting, the UNC/MAC Senior Member remarked that
the UNC considered Kim Il Sung’s expression of “regret” and remarks
on joint efforts in the JSA to prevent future incidents as a positive but
insufficient step. He also urged that those responsible should be
punished and a recurrence prevented and demanded assurances for
the safety of UNC personnel in the JSA. The KPA/CPV Senior Member
replied that its position on the issue had been clearly expressed in the
message of August 21 and repeated its key points. In order to prevent
a recurrence of a similar incident, the JSA should be divided and
security guards from both sides should not have entry to the other’s
side. 243 At the 381st MAC meeting proposed by the UNC/MAC held
exemplified] Chinese pressure recorded by Yoon on this occasion and during
“Operation Paul Bunyan” are the only examples the author has found of China
influencing North Korea’s actions.
243_ The North’s proposal was almost identical with that proposed by the UNC at the
306 Peace-keeping in the Korean Peninsula