REPORT BY U.N. SPOKESMEN

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26477, 19 July 1951, Page 7

REPORT BY U.N. SPOKESMEN

Progress At Earlier Sessions

„ , ; SEOUL, July 17. General Ridgway’s information office issued a communique stating that the fifth session, held yesterday, was opened by the North Korean and Chinese senior delegates. Most of the time of the morning session was taken up by a discussion of the agenda proposed bv the United Nations Command. Clarifications of definitions and translation took considerable time. The afternoon session was more formal, with the North Koreans' senior celegate elucidating and explaining details of his proposed agenda. The official briefing officer. Colonel Jimes Nprell, said that at least one fresh point for discussion had been brought up. From a score of questions which correspondents directed at him, Colonel Norell was unable to disclose much more about the agenda than the fact that it is being considered “as a whole." He made It plain that so far there had been no wrangling or heated discussion during the conference. The atmosphere still seems to resemble a business meeting. aer’s correspondent at the adbase says that the impression was that the conference was progressing satisfactorily, but was still in the crawling stage. There are hopes of a speed-up once the agenda is finally completed and agreed, but no one—pnd this is believed to include the principal delegates—could hazard a gudss as to how the talks would continue before the cease-fire agreement u reached. k t In Kaesong a representative of the official Communist New China news agency, Mr Pang, said that Soviet Taps Agency reporters had arrived in Pyongyang, and, it was believed, would travel south to cover the Kaesong conference. Mr Pang said that Communist dispatches from the front line were not subject to censorship. He added that he had interviewed many Chinese soldiers in the front line and they were eager for a ceaseA Meanwhile, the Peking radio, in tonight’s broadcast, quoted from a newspaper supporting the North Korean chief cease-fire delegate. General Nam 11, in his armistice proposals nisde at the Kaesong meeting on July W. The radio said that General Nam s proposals reflected the unanimous hopes of all Korean patriots, and had the full support of the Korean peoples, General Nam proposed to end hostilities in Korea by fixing the 38th parallel as the demarcation line, having both sides’ forces withdraw 10 kilometres from this line, and making the area a non-military zone with the civilian administration restored to the status quo of June 21, 1950.