Haha… Shelton, I’m not falling for that. It’s probably a link to either one of your own personal sites… not going there again, thanks.

Of course the smaller ones have been exchanged on an irregular (but sometimes very intensive) basis for the last 50 or so years, so what’s the big deal?

Answer: They would become “official” only if they followed a theoretical “denouncement” (by either side) of the armistice concluded on 27 July 1953. (I think “denounce” is the correct technical term; I’ll have to check the dictionary, but I believe this usage is one of the lesser-known variants from how we usually use the word).

The official US Army history is full of mind-numbing detail, yet for me parts of it can still make a compelling and indeed hair-raising read:

“…Surrounded by his top military advisors, including a ROKA representative, General Clark countersigned the bluebound copies on the afternoon of 27 July at Munsan-ni. In the speeches that followed, the U.N. commander cautioned that the armistice was only a military agreement to cease fire while the opposing sides sought a political solution to the conflict. Until the diplomats negotiated a permanent conclusion, Clark warned, there could be no UNC withdrawal from Korea nor any lessening of alertness and preparedness.

While Clark was speaking, the guns along the front continued to bellow out their lethal salutes. Ground activity had come to a halt, but artillery and mortar fire lasted until the end. In the air the UNC planes pounded North Korean airfields, rail lines, and road systems in a last-ditch effort to curtail Communist activities until the supervisory commission and its inspection teams could begin to function. The air program, carried out by Air Force, Navy, and Marine aircraft, had been intensified during the last week of the fighting, but unfortunately, inclement flying weather had permitted the enemy to bring a number of airplanes into Korea before the armistice was signed. On the sea naval warships bombarded Kosong and finally ended the longest naval siege in history by shelling Wonsan for the last time. When the clock hands reached 2200 the guns fell silent across Korea and the shooting war was over…”

If you go to http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/korea/truce/ch22.htm, and scroll down, you’ll find this quote toward the end of the long chapter. And if you read on further, you’ll read about how the ROK forces under President Rhee were very unwilling parties to the armistice and wanted to fight on! (Indeed if I remember correctly, the ROK did not officially sign the armistice: not sure how this stands now. I’ll have to research the diplomatic history of the succeeding 52 years: I’ve been meaning to educate myself in the details of the history of the ROK’s “official” stance toward the armistice).

Even magazines and magazines of small arms ammunition, expended by suicidal DPRK infiltrators from a midget submarine, will remain “unofficial shots”, until either side decides as a result of them to march into Panmunjon and tell the other one that the armistice is over and the war is on again.

For compelling geo-political reasons both sides have found it convenient not to do this, even in the face of the most blatant provocations over the years.

And this has gone on for so long that now the word “armistice” has evolved into basically a synonym for “permanent peace” (at least for young guys like you Dogbert, or perhaps it’s simply that young people don’t even realize the Korean War is still “officially” ongoing).

But the traditional meaning of armistice is an “official”, but temporary, cessation of hostilities by both sides — until such time as a peace treaty is concluded, or the war starts again.

(I presume you are a “young guy” compared to me, Dogbert; at least I hope so for your sake).