Bến Hải River Bến Hải River The Bến Hải River () is a river in central Vietnam which became an important landmark in the partition of the country into a northern and a southern zone along the 17th parallel by the Geneva Accords of 1954. The demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two parts extended about from either side of the river. The Bến Hải River has a total length of about 100 kilometers; its source is located in the Annamite Mountains along the border with Laos and it flows into the South China Sea at Cua Tung (Tung River mouth). In the mountains,
1954 Geneva Conference the Berlin Conference, participants agreed that "the problem of restoring peace in Indochina will also be discussed at the Conference [on the Korean question] to which representatives of the United States, France, the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Chinese People's Republic and other interested states will be invited." The conference was held at the Palace of Nations in Geneva, commencing on April 26, 1954. The first agenda item was the Korean question to be followed by Indochina. The armistice signed at end of the Korean War required a political conference within three months—a timeline which