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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Question regarding where the victors and losers sat for the Armistice
signing.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>On my last two visits (this August and September) to <st1:place w:st="on">Panmunjom</st1:place>
from the North we, as usual, visited the two Armistice related halls, the one
for the negotiations and the other for the signing. For both these times
the briefer, described as a KPA lieutenant colonel, gave the following
explanation for the placement of the three tables in the signing hall. (There
are three tables aligned on the north-south axis. The middle table was
empty, kind of a spacer. The signers sat on the western side of their
respective tables facing east. The northern table is where the DPRK
representative sat and the southern table is where the UN, or as they say, the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
representative, sat.) The Colonel said that the “victors” sat
on the north and the “losers” sat on the south.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I have visited this hall various times since 1995 and no one previously
had made this geographically related comment. Was this just a flippant
comment by a gung-ho soldier or is there a tradition in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Korea</st1:place></st1:country-region> (and
possibly other Asian countries) that the victor sits in the north while the
loser sits in the south? Given the emphasis in Asian dynastic cultures on
palaces being built on a north-south axis, with the seated leader on his throne
facing south, I could see this as a logical extension of that geographic preoccupation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Can anyone clarify this for me? If this is the case, does anyone
know why the UN signers didn’t know about this, other than that the South
Koreans refused to sign and were therefore not “in the loop”?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Walter L. Keats, CTC, CMP<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>President<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Asia Pacific Travel, Ltd.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>P.O. Box</span></font></st1:Street>
350</st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Kenilworth</span></font></st1:City>,
<st1:State w:st="on">IL</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">60043-0350</st1:PostalCode>
<st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Tel:
1-847-251-6400<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Fax: 1-847-256-5601<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Email: <a
href="mailto:walter.keats@asia1on1.com">walter.keats@asia1on1.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Websites: <a href="http://www.asia1on1.com/">www.asia1on1.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>
<a href="http://www.northkorea1on1.com/">www.northkorea1on1.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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