09-151.pdf

armistice violations. Although the 1968 Blue House raid and the
Pueblo incident in particular caused tension, other serious incidents
occurred as well, but North Korea failed to gain support for its
revolutionary policies in South Korea and for the withdrawal of
American troops. On the contrary, North Korea’s acts strengthened
South Korea’s and the US will to defend South Korea, indicating a
profound lack of knowledge of its neighbour. The argument that if the
American troops withdrew, re-unification would be accomplished
was and remains unrealistic. That American pressure prevented South
Korea from retaliating after the Blue House raid must in retrospect be
regarded as very fortunate since retaliation would inevitably have
raised tension.
During the 1970s, serious incidents such as the 1976 axe
murder and North Korean tunnels under the DMZ discovered by the
UNC in 1974, 1975 and 1978 also took place, but the degree of
negative peace was rather lower and North-South dialogue was held
for the first time in 1971-73. The 1972 July 4 Communiqué on
re-unification by peaceful means, without foreign intervention and in
national unity, could have been an impetus for improved relations but
became impossible to implement since South Korea could not accept
the North Korean demand for an American troop withdrawal.
Although the Panmunjom axe murder took place due to a dispute
regarding a tree in the Joint Security Area, the underlying reasons were
the KPA policy to test the willingness of the US to defend South Korea
and to gain world-wide support for a troop withdrawal, but the
incident backfired. While there is no excuse for the murders, the UNC
shares responsibility for the incident by ignoring the North’s previous
warnings against cutting down the tree and not notifying it in advance.
General Conclusions
529