09-151.pdf

the NNSC to work in North Korea and demanded that the Commission
be abolished and that the Inspection Teams leave the country. 69
Yet, on January 27, 1955, when the Swiss Federal Council suggested
a staff reduction, the US and China had responded positively,
in spite of their different positions. At this time, the Swiss government
had sent an aide-memoire to the American and Chinese governments
to request the abolition of or at least a reduction in the size of the
NNSC. The US favoured abolition, but China wanted to reduce the
size of the NNSC. Kangnûng and Taegu in the South had now been
paralysed by the UNC, and Ch’ôngjin and Hûngnam in the North had
hardly any traffic at all of troops and combat material.
On April 13, the head of the Swedish delegation proposed at the
189th NNSC meeting that all fixed teams should be withdrawn. His
opinion was that “inspection at the field had brought no results and
could without trouble be made from Panmunjom.” Consequently,
although Czechoslovakia and Poland still did not want to reduce the
Commission, the NNSC at its 193rd meeting on May 3 suggested in a
letter to the MAC a preliminary withdrawal of the fixed inspection
teams from Kangnûng, Kunsan, Ch’ôngjin and Hûngnam and a transformation
of the remaining six teams into sub-teams with at least two
members in accordance with Paragraph 40(a).
After long hesitation, the MAC at its 66th meeting requested by
the UNC/MAC held on August 29 basically accepted the proposal but
without waiving the different opinions on the status of the NNSC. The
South needed more time than the North to decide since it was the
69_ Bailey, ibid., pp. 174-5; Choi, op. cit., p. 494; Försvarets Läromedelscentral, ibid.,
p. 24; Petitpierre, op. cit., p. 41. “Peacefully” is quoted from Försvarets Läromedelscentral,
ibid.
The Foundation of the MAC and the NNSC and the First Turbulent Years
77