6·25전쟁기 戰費지출문제와 경제조정협정

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to look into the issue of dollar settlement of won advances for UN and to identify the nature of the legal basis for the settlement, which is the Agreement on Economic Coordination. The Agreement on Economic Coordination closed the first chapter in the long and winding negotiations between Korea and America on the issue of Economic Aid. The principal purpose of the Korean government in signing the agreement was to get redemption on UN advances while the US side’s primary interest was to have the UN Unified Command to have a say in the use of the foreign currency acquired through relief Aid and the redemption of the loan. Further to the Agreement, the Combined Economic Board for resolution of economics issues was put in place for discussion between the Unified Command and the Korean government and the Korean government managed to secure the commitment on the redemption of the won drawings by the UN. However, while the issue of UN loan settlement was not completely resolved, the issue of exchange rate applicable to the redemption of direct military expenses (accounting for a major part of the loans drawn by the United Nations Forces) was brushed aside for future discussions between the Korea and the US. In response to the Korean government’s request for full redemption of the won drawings by the UN during the wartime, the UN Forces agreed to redeem the amount of expenditures in the past and going forward, that were tied to personal spending from the total UN Won expenditures. However, the UN forces left a grey area in the discussion of the redemption of direct military expenses, ultimately coming back with the assertion that the wartime expenses should be offset by the proceeds from the sale of relief supplies. This assertion by the UN Forces in effect reflects the nature of the relief aid provided at the time, that such aid should be tied to military purposes.