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the inspection teams did not work well. Consequently, it was difficult<br />

for the Swedish and Swiss NNSC teams in particular to evaluate the<br />

statistics. In sharp contrast, Lidin writes (2007) that the supervisors<br />

initially “...had access to everything.” 28 That the teams faced restrictions<br />

in both Koreas indicates that the war legacy undermined the<br />

implementation of the Armistice Agreement; it did not contribute to<br />

eliminate the basic causes of conflict but only prescribed how to<br />

handle the post-war situation.<br />

In addition to the hardships due to the restrictions imposed on<br />

its work by both parties, the NNSC also suffered from internal conflicts.<br />

The first occurred as early as August 1953. At the 13th MAC meeting<br />

called by the KPA/CPV held on August 20, the North claimed that the<br />

South had obstructed the North Korean and Chinese Red Cross teams’<br />

work in prisoner-of-war camps on Kôje Island, Yôngdûngp’o and at<br />

Imjin River-Bridge, in some cases with violence. It requested the<br />

engagement of three mobile inspection teams with officers from all<br />

four member nations. The UNC/MAC agreed to dispatch the teams at<br />

the 14th MAC meeting proposed by the South and convened on<br />

August 21. The teams were dispatched the same day.<br />

The task for the teams that comprised about 30 men each was to<br />

clarify the alleged obstructions by the UNC in violation of the Armistice<br />

Agreement, Paragraph 57 that regulates the Red Cross teams’ work<br />

with regard to the repatriation of prisoners of war. On August 28, two<br />

of the teams returned to Panmunjom and on August 30 the third team<br />

returned. The Czech and Polish members regarded the North’s<br />

28_ Grafström, op. cit., pp, 1190-1191; Lidin, op. cit., pp. 193-4; Weilenmann, Einsatz<br />

in Korea 1953/54 (Wettingen, 2001), pp. 35, 49.<br />

The Foundation of the MAC and the NNSC and the First Turbulent Years<br />

35

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