The Frontlines of Freedom": The 1967 Incident at Guard Post Ouellette and the Military Armistice Commission

Abstract

The Korean War Armistice Agreement established the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) as a boundary and buffer zone between the two Koreas. While the DMZ operates as a core space for the armistice system on the Korean Peninsula, it is also a space where that Armistice Agreement is violated, such as by the concentration of military forces and military clashes. This article examines the laws and agencies regulating the DMZ and the Armistice Agreement by examining the conflict at Guard Post Ouellette. GP Ouellette sits about 50m from the MDL and in the Military Armistice Commission Headquarters Area at Panmunjom. In April 1967, just below GP Ouellette, five North Korean soldiers were killed for violating the MDL. This article examines the political and military symbolism of GP Ouellette and the clash between North Korean and American forces that occurred there, examining the Armistice Agreement and subsequent agreements, as well as the working methods and vulnerabilities of related organizations (Military Armistice Commission and Joint Observer Teams). It is argued that these institutional limitations have made possible the militarization of the DMZ and are the major causes behind the instability of both the DMZ and the armistice.