July 10th in History

Dear Friends,

This Friday July 10th, I would like to draw your attention to what happened on the same date but 58 years ago. This date will be remembered because on July 10th 1951 the armistice negotiations began in Kaesong to end the Korean War which was the first serious test for collective security of the then newly formed Atlantic alliance and of course for the newly formed United Nations as well.

The city of Kaesong is close to the Demilitarized Zone that divides North and South Korea. When Korea was partitioned at the 38th parallel after World War Two, Kaesong was on the southern side of the line (within the Republic of Korea). Thus Kaesong is the only city to change control after the Korean War.