| Number: | 498 |
| Organ: | GA |
| Date: | February 1st |
| Year: | 1951 |
| Meeting: | 327 |
| Code: | A/RES/498 (V) |
| Document: | http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/498(V) |
| For: | 44 |
| Abstention: | 9 |
| Against: | 7 |
| Subject: | Intervention of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China in Korea |
| Result: | Adopted |
The United Nations General Assembly resolution 498 was approved on February 1, 1951, in response to the intervention of Chinese Communist troops in Korean War.
It was the first time in which United Nations treated a nation as an aggressor.[1]
In late 1950, hundreds of thousands of Chinese Communist troops crossed into North Korea to help the troops of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to fight the coalition led by United States and the Republic of Korea.
The General Assembly vote followed unsuccessful attempts by the U.S. delegation to the United Nations to have the Security Council take action against the Chinese Communists. Exercising his nation's veto power, the Soviet representative on the Security Council consistently blocked the U.S. effort. Turning to the General Assembly, the U.S. delegation called for the United Nations to condemn communist China as an aggressor in Korea.
The resolution had 3 main points:
For
Against
Abstentions
The action was largely symbolic, because many nations were reluctant to take more forceful action against the People's Republic of China for fear that the conflict in Korea would escalate. While economic and political sanctions could have been brought against Red China, the United Nations decided to take no further action. The Korean War continued for 2 more years, finally ending in a stalemate and an armistice in 1953.
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