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Chapter Nine

1953

1953 FCCJ FACT FILE

• Membership: No records.

• Professional events: Press conferences and interviews. No record of Club events.

• Social events: Inaugural party, Anniversary party, and New Year's Eve party. No record of other events.

• President until June 30: William Jorden (AP); from July 1: Dwight Martin (Time-Life).

Negotiations sputter along

With the U.N.-Communist armistice talks at Panmunjom stalled and in recess since October 28, 1952, on the question of prisoner exchange, the venue of the debate had shifted to the United Nations. In December 1952, India had submitted to the General Assembly a compromise plan for prisoner exchange, providing for neutral screening of POWs to separate those desiring repatriation and those rejecting it. This proposal was approved by the General Assembly but totally rejected by the Communist bloc.

On February 22, General Mark W. Clark, Commander of U.N. and U.S. forces in the Far East, on orders from Washington dusted off and transmitted to the Communist High Command an old U.N. proposal for the exchange of seriously sick and wounded prisoners even while hostilities were in progress.

On March 2, the Soviets rejected the Clark proposal in the U.N. But when Josef V. Stalin, who had instigated, or at least approved, the North Korean invasion of South Korea, died of cerebral hemorrhage on March 5, the situation suddenly changed. Chosen to succeed him as premier and president of the Council of Ministers was Georgi M. Malenkov, who was backed by Nikita Khrushchev.

Malenkov was more concerned with solving Communism's internal problems than with foreign adventures. When he launched a "peace offensive," the Communist and North Korean commanders in Korea made an about-face and on March 28 accepted General Clark's proposal, adding that the exchange of the sick and wounded "should be made to lead to the smooth settlement of the entire question of prisoners of war, thereby achieving an armistice in Korea. . . ." In line with this, they proposed the two sides "immediately" resume armistice negotiations at Panmunjom.

"Operation Little Switch"