The exchange of prisoners of war as a site of ideological confrontation during the Korean war
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22097897 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Natalia Nikolaevna Kim (0000-0001-7728-7968, National Research University Higher School of Economics, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 152-174 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | RUDN Journal of World History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2312-8127 • E-ISSN: 2312-833X |
| Publisher | Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (PUBLISHER • RU) |
| DOI | 10.22363/2312-8127-2026-18-2-152-174 |
| OpenAlex | W7167506265 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
The Korean War (25.06.1950-27.07.1953) represents a multifaceted conflict of the Cold War era, in which the national interests of the two Korean states, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the Republic of Korea (ROK), became intricately intertwined with the interests of major powers - the USSR, the USA, and the People's Republic of China (PRC). From the very outbreak of the war on June 25, 1950, various proposals for achieving peace and restoring the status quo were put forward at the United Nations. However, for various reasons, the war became protracted. Truce talks commenced in July 1951 and concluded only two years later with the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement. One of the reasons for the prolonged negotiations was the disagreement between the sides regarding the exchange of prisoners of war. The aim of this study is to examine how the ideological confrontation between the sides of the military conflict (the USA and the ROK versus the DPRK, the PRC, and the USSR) influenced the negotiations on the POWs exchange and the subsequent treatment of repatriated prisoners in their home countries (on the examples of American and British POWs). As a result of the research, the author concludes that tens of thousands of POWs became object of ideological propaganda and manipulation by both the United States, commanding the UN forces, and the DPRK and the PRC. The ideological confrontation between the sides emerged as one of the primary factors of tension within the prisoner-of-war camps, threatening the lives and safety of the captives
China · Democracy · Ideology · Negotiation · Prisoners of war · Spanish Civil War · Asian Culture and Media Studies · Japanese History and Culture · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies
| Highly cited | No |
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