Unable to establish a defensive line in North Korea, Eighth Army withdrew below the 38th Parallel. On Dec. 23, General Walker was killed in a jeep accident, and on Dec. 26, Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway assumed command of UNC ground forces in Korea. Under his direction, the enemy's offensive was stalled south of Seoul and the UNC made plans to strike back. By the end of May 1951, the battle lines were established where today's Demilitarized Zone exists -- northeastward from the Han River Estuary in the west, less than 30 miles from Seoul, to north of the 38th Parallel on the east coast.
由于无法在朝鲜建立稳固防线，第八集团军开始撤回38线以南。12月23日，沃克将军在一次车祸中丧生，12月26日，Matthew B 李奇微中将奉命接管联合国军指挥权。在他的指挥下，敌军的攻势止步于汉城以南，而联合国军开始谋划下一步的反击。到了1951年5月底，战线稳定在今天的半岛军事分界线一带。
On April 11, 1951, General Ridgway replaced General MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command (and as Supreme Commander U.S. Army Pacific and Commander-in-Chief, Far East) and Lt. Gen. James A. Van Fleet took command of the Eighth Army. On July 10, 1951, after a Soviet hint that talks would be welcome, truce negotiations were begun at Kaesong, on the 38th Parallel. The front lines, except for periodic and bloody fights over particularly strategic terrain in what was called the "Hill War," stayed fairly constant.
1951年4月11日，李奇微将军接替麦克阿瑟将军成为联合国军最高指挥官（同时也是美军远东及太平洋地区最高指挥官，）James A. 范弗里特中将成为第八集团军新任司令官。1951年7月10日，在苏联暗示了对话的可能性之后，参战双方在38线附近的开城进行了停战谈判。而在前线，围绕着一系列战略要地，残酷的战斗仍在持续。
A frustrating two years of stalemate ensued. The communists lacking hope of a military victory but with no desire for real peace, used the talks for propaganda, impossible demands, and irrelevant and divergent issues while hoping for some striking political victory. Eighth Army, meanwhile, had to maintain readiness for any renewal of hostilities. The UNC negotiators gradually got some issues settled, but their determination not to return any unwilling prisoner of war was used by the communists as an excuse to stall on other issues as well.
接下来的两年时间里，参战双方一直僵持着。社会主义阵营眼看军事胜利无望，却又不愿真正和谈。他们利用停战谈判做幌子，不断提出无法实现的或是毫不相干的要求，以期得到政治上的优势。第八集团军在此期间一直整军备战。联合国军的代表在谈判过程中逐渐获得主动权，但是他们坚持战俘自愿遣返的原则被对方代表利用，并以此作为阻挠谈判顺利进行的借口。
On Feb. 1, 1953, Lt. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor succeeded to the Eighth Army command. President Eisenhower, who had pledged to end the Korean bloodshed, renewed the call for a cease fire. Recessed negotiations were resumed. An improving atmosphere was perceived in an agreement on exchange of sick and wounded POWs. Another breakdown in the talks was threatened when ROK President Syngman Rhee, who bitterly opposed the truce negotiations in favor of a military victory, in June unilaterally released some 27,000 anti-Communist POWs. The UNC's patience, if not persuasion, prevailed and the Cease Fire Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953.
1953年2月1日，Maxwell D.泰勒中将接过第八集团军的指挥权。宣称要结束朝鲜战争的艾森豪威尔总统再次发出停火的号召，中断多时的停战谈判得以重新启动。作为缓解对立气氛的措施，双方交换了一批伤病战俘。但是时任韩国总统的李承晚却极力反对停战谈判，6月，李承晚单方面释放了27000名所谓的不愿遣返的战俘。联合国军方面顶住压力继续推动谈判进程，最终，参战双方于1953年7月27日签订了停战协议。
As General Taylor later told his troops, the cease fire did not mean that the war was over; it was a "suspension of hostilities -- an interruption of the shooting." And so it remains today.
正如泰勒将军对第八集团军将士说的那样，停战协议并不意味着战争的结束，只不过是“暂时停止行动”，直到今天，仍是如此。
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