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SKOREA-NKOREA-MILITARY-DIPLOMACY
Koreas verify removal of frontline bunkers
SEOUL, Dec 12, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Soldiers from North and South Korea are
set to verify the dismantlement of guard posts in the demilitarised zone
Wednesday, Seoul said, after crossing into each other’s territory peacefully
for the first time.
The removal of 20 posts along the heavily-fortified frontier was one of the
steps agreed at a September summit between the South’s President Moon Jae-in
and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, part of a rapid
reconciliation drive on the peninsula.
In November, North Korea blew up the 10 facilities while the South tore
down 10 on its own side using excavators.
Seoul’s defence ministry said early Wednesday that South Korean inspectors
will visit each of the guard posts on the North’s side to verify their
dismantlement and to ensure that all firearms and troops have been removed.
North Korean inspectors will carry out the same process at the South’s
bunkers, it added.
“This marks the first time since the division that the soldiers of the
North and South… are peacefully crossing the military demarcation line,”
the ministry said in a statement.
The dovish Moon has pursued a policy of engagement with its isolated,
nuclear-armed neighbour, in increasing contrast to Washington, which insists
pressure should be maintained on Pyongyang until it denuclearises.
Despite its name, the area around the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) is one of
the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire
fences.
But under plans to ease tensions agreed in Pyongyang, the two Koreas have
demilitarised the border truce village of Panmunjom, leaving it manned by 35
unarmed personnel from each side.
Officially called the Joint Security Area (JSA), the enclave is the only
spot along the 250-kilometre (155-mile) frontier where soldiers from the two
Koreas and the US-led UN Command stand face to face.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1115 hrs