Panmunjeom and the JSA
By Steve Tharp
As one familiar with much of the legend and fact surrounding the DMZ, my interest was piqued recently by an article in a competing newspaper with the headline “Google thought Panmunjeom [sic] was in North Korea.” Based on information provided by the Korea Culture and Information Service (KOCIS), the article reported that one of the most commonly found errors reported by foreign-based media is that Panmunjom and the Joint Security Area (JSA) are not the same place. Knowing this is untrue, I found it troubling that a Korean government agency responsible for correcting facts could make that kind of mistake. I found it amusing that I may be responsible for some of the wording in these articles since foreign journalists occasionally call to ask me to explain certain aspects of the DMZ. I found it disturbing that the reporter didn't respond to my email (why was his address under his byline?). Therefore, I'd like to take this opportunity to clear up the facts for both journalists and KOCIS and, then having been educated on the matter, everyone can refer to these places however they wish.
“Nolmun-ni” was the original name for Panmunjom but because the first syllable couldn't be written in Chinese characters, the name was changed as a convenience for the Chinese. Because “nol,” is a pure Korean word meaning flat board, it cannot be written in Chinese characters. The Sino-Korean word “pan,” with essentially the same meaning, was substituted for “nol.” Additionally, the third syllable, “ni/ri (meaning village), was replaced with jom (store/outlet) changing the sound but not really the meaning of the village's name. The correct English spelling is Panmunjom as found in the Armistice Agreement, other related armistice materials and in North Korean romanization. The South Korean romanization “Panmunjeom” is inappropriate since Panmunjom is an Armistice creation and located in North Korea, not in the South.
Panmunjom was the historical venue for most of the Korean War ceasefire talks and the initial post-armistice talks from October 1951 until October 1953, as recorded in the Armistice Agreement and the first 25 Military Armistice Commission (MAC) meeting minutes. The North Korean People's Peace Museum is housed in the building where the Armistice Agreement was co-signed and exchanged on July 27, 1953. It is 600 meters north of the military demarcation line and 1,000 meters from the JSA, clearly under North Korean control. The only way to visit Panmunjom and the Korean People's Peace Museum is to go through North Korea.
The Joint Security Area or JSA is a different place and a different type of venue. The United Nations Command and the Communists agreed in September 1953 to create a Military Armistice Commission Headquarters Area (MACHA) which would be a column running through the DMZ in the vicinity of Panmunjom, broken into A and B sectors on each side of the military demarcation line. The A sectors abutted the military demarcation line and are where the Joint Security Area was established, as a neutral zone, for the purpose of housing the buildings and meeting venues of the three major Armistice-related commissions. The purpose of MACHA B was to provide a corridor on each side of the MACHA through which the delegations could travel to MACHA A for meetings. Volume II of the Armistice Agreement (maps) shows Panmunjom within the northern MACHA B area well within North Korea.
Additional proof that these are different locations can be found in the historical armistice-related documents. Panmunjom is listed as the venue on the signature page of the Armistice Agreement and at the top of the Meeting Minutes for the first 25 MAC sessions. The JSA officially became the new venue for armistice agreement-related dialogue on Oct. 20, 1953, with the 26th MAC Meeting. From that time on, the location recorded at the top of the UNC Official MAC Meeting minutes was listed as the MACHA rather than Panmunjom. In September 1976, the JSA was divided by mutual agreement after North Korean guards attacked and murdered two American officers, Capt. Arthur Bonifas and First Lt. Mark Barrett, on Aug. 18, 1976. Although no longer a neutral site, the JSA continued on as an armistice meeting venue as well a site for South-North dialogue, a role that began in 1972.
The bottom line is that Panmunjom and the JSA are different locations. The modern-day negotiation buildings in the JSA are located about 1 kilometer from the original village of Panmunjom, the historical negotiating venue. Although this technicality has been overlooked over the years, the point here is that a Republic of Korea government agency doesn't have the legal authority to change the names of locations under the control of the United Nations Command (southern half of the DMZ) and the North Korean People's Army (northern half of the DMZ) as long as the Armistice Agreement remains in effect. About a month ago I saw a KOCIS job announcement “looking for a native English speaker to edit and proofread a diverse range of English-language documents …” Perhaps in addition to proofreading, KOCIS should be training their content readers on distinguishing between legend and fact.
I don't believe this explanation is going to have any practical effect because the difference in location between Panmunjom and the JSA has been ignored for too long. Panmunjom is a well-known name whereas the JSA is relatively unknown which led to the practice of calling both places Panmunjom. I usually refer to the current meeting location as the “JSA near Panmunjom” in my efforts to be both correct and understood. Sometimes a hypocrite myself however, I occasionally substitute Panmunjom for JSA when the situation calls for simplicity. Perhaps instead of trying to fight the current, I should just accept the current situation by paraphrasing the newspaper editor in the 1962 John Wayne Western movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”:
“This is Korea, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
Steve Tharp (daraemm@gmail.com) is a retired U.S. Army infantry officer and Foreign Area Officer who served 40 years with the U.S. military, 26 of those years in Korea, including six years as a negotiator meeting with North Korean and Chinese military officers at the Joint Security Area near Panmunjom.