Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
UNC asserts authority in DMZ as ruling party pushes for civilian access
South Korean soldiers and United Nations Command soldiers stand guard near the military demarcation line separating the two Koreas at the Joint Security Area of the demilitarized zone in the truce village of Panmunjeom, Oct. 4, 2022. AFP-Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
U.S.-led multinational command cautious about unification ministry's push to reopen peace trails along heavily-fortified border
The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) reasserted its authority Wednesday over the thin, landmine-strewn strip separating the two Koreas, signaling a widening rift with South Korea’s ruling party and the Ministry of Unification over who controls access to the demilitarized zone.
"The substantive provisions within the Armistice Agreement make it clear that the UNC commander is responsible for military and civil administration within the southern half of the DMZ," a UNC official said during a closed-door briefing in Seoul.
The remarks come as debate intensifies over proposed legislation that would allow civilians to enter the demilitarized zone without prior approval from the UNC. Under the Armistice Agreement that halted the Korean War in 1953, all access to the zone currently requires UNC authorization.
Last year, lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea proposed a bill that would give the South Korean government greater leeway to approve nonmilitary access to the DMZ. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has expressed support for the bill.
Supporters of the bill argue that the preamble of the Armistice Agreement states that UNC's mandate is limited to military administration, not civilian activity, and thus nonmilitary use of the DMZ should fall under South Korea's sovereign authority.
The U.S.-led multinational military organization issued a rare public statement last December asserting its “exclusive authority” over access to the DMZ.
UNC officials rejected interpretations based on the agreement's preamble, saying the language has been misconstrued.
"Under the Vienna Convention on Treaties, the preamble is designed to provide context," the official said, adding that it is not substantive or binding language.
Another official said the proposed bills are completely at odds with the agreement.
"The bills and the Armistice Agreement can never align. It takes away authority from the UNC commander and gives it to a third party, but yet he retains the responsibility for what happened (in the DMZ)," he said.
Unification Minister Chung Dong-young visits the DMZ Peace Trail routes in Goseong, Gangwon Province, Jan. 21. Courtesy of Ministry of Unification
The dispute between the UNC and South Korean authorities surfaced after the unification minister said publicly last December that Kim Hyun-jong, the first deputy director of the National Security Office, had been denied access to the demilitarized zone the previous month. Chung criticized the decision as an infringement on South Korea’s sovereignty.
During the briefing, another UNC official said the decision to deny Kim access was based on safety concerns, not political considerations.
The official explained that, when the request was submitted in late November, a South Korean Army sergeant was injured in an explosion while conducting a mission to detect land mines inside the DMZ, prompting heightened security measures. Kim later visited the site on Dec. 17.
"We offered another opportunity, which the (national) security office accepted, and two weeks later, we took him out to one of the guard posts and had a fruitful and substantive discussion about the military demarcation line and current activities so that he could report the security situation back to the president with a clear context," the official said, pushing back against claims that access decisions are arbitrary and stressing that regulations prioritize safety.
UNC officials were also cautious about the unification ministry's push to reopen the DMZ Peace Trail. Chung visited a closed section of the trail in Goseong, Gangwon Province on Jan. 21, in an apparent bid to revive the route.
The South Korean government launched 11 trail routes along border cities in 2019, giving the public limited access to areas near the heavily fortified buffer zone. But three sections — in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, and in Cheorwon and Goseong, in Gangwon Province — that enter the demilitarized zone were closed in April 2024 because of security concerns amid heightened tensions with Pyongyang.
Those routes remain subject to safety and security restrictions, a UNC official said, adding, “At this time, due to security considerations, dismounted routes for civilian traffic into the DMZ are not authorized.”