The question of whether or not UN forces really did enter the Kaesong area is open to some speculation. While making the claim that the area's neutrality had been violated might have been a Communist tactic to suspend the negotiations, it is also is possible that Syngman Rhee, still obsessed with the idea of a unified Korea under his control, sent in a UN/ROK force to deliberately sabotage the talks, which he feared might bring about a settlement including a divided Korea.

The POW issue was such a problem because the US/UN/ROK had about ten times as many POWs as the Communists, which made a one-for-one exchange impossible. The US wanted to give POWs the opportunity to choose to remain in the "Free World", while the Communists wanted all their POWs repatriated into North Korea and the PRC. To strike back at the US, the upset Communists tried to indoctrinate and brainwash US/UN/ROK POWs so they would refuse to return to the US or ROK; US fears of Communist brainwashing were very real during the cold war, with Korea figuring prominently, as portrayed by the 1962 film The Manchurian Candidate. The paranoia was not completely unfounded. Some Communists purposely got themselves captured, and then tried to foment unrest and disturbances in POW camps, especially the largest US/UN/ROK POW camp, Koje Island.

As always throughout the negotiations, bombing efforts against Northern Korea failed to intimidate the Communists into giving into US demands. If anything, bombing only strengthened Communist resolve.

A fiscal conservative, Eisenhower was concerned by the vast amount of money being spent on the Korean War. Yet although Eisenhower took his election in 1952 as a mandate to get the US out of Korea, he had not presented any specific plan for doing so before being elected. Still, upon taking office, Eisenhower did not dally. Immediately after his election, Eisenhower secretly flew to Korea to meet with US officers there and to see the situation for himself. Because he was a Republican and a war hero, Eisenhower was immune from the troubles that had plagued Truman. Eisenhower did not have to worry about Republican criticism or about appearing soft on Communism, and yet as a universally respected general backed by a hawkish secretary of state in John Foster Dulles, his negotiating threats held more credibility than Truman's. Upon taking office, Eisenhower was prepared to fulfill his "mandate" to get the US out of the Korean War.

Popular pages: The Korean War (1950-1953)