Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
UNC, S. Korean gov't clash over NK's border activity
North Korean soldiers move along a fence line near Yujeong-dong village in Kaepung County, North Korea, as seen from the Ganghwa Peace Observatory in Incheon, Jan. 8, 2024. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seog
By Bahk Eun-ji
UNC challenges Seoul's claim of Pyongyang's armistice violation
The South Korean government and the United Nations Command (UNC) are giving conflicting accounts of North Korea’s recent move to intensify border fencing, with South Korea viewing the activity as a violation of the armistice agreement and the UNC disputing the framing.
It is the second dispute in recent months between the two over border issues, with a previous disagreement taking place over authority to grant approval for nonmilitary access to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
The UNC on Wednesday publicly challenged South Korea’s assessment in a fact sheet on its website. The fact sheet came after a report that North Korea installed barbed wire fences just 80 meters from the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).
The South Korean defense ministry said Monday that the activity is “in clear violation of the armistice agreement,” which halted the 1950-53 Korean War. The MDL separates the two Koreas and the DMZ is a buffer zone extending 2 kilometers on either side of the MDL to restrict troops and heavy weapons.
In its fact sheet, the UNC wrote, "Recent North Korean construction activities — including fencing and road repairs — do not constitute violations of the 1953 armistice agreement, provided they remain north of the MDL and do not introduce heavy weaponry."
The UNC said fences serve a defensive and separation purpose and that defensive mine placement north of the MDL is permitted under its interpretation of the armistice.
It said its monitoring has found no evidence that North Korea has introduced heavy weapons or drone capabilities into the DMZ. "In most areas, KPA (North Korean People’s Army) construction remains up to 100 meters north of the 1953 agreement," it also said.
"The ROK (South Korea) currently operates over 36 road, fence, and vegetation clearing projects in the southern DMZ. The UNC applies the same standard to both sides," it said.
The fact sheet contrasts with the position of South Korea's defense ministry.
“We view it as a violation that effectively undermines the buffer zone established under the armistice agreement,” Chung Binna, the ministry’s spokesperson, said Tuesday.
North Korea has been carrying out what Seoul describes as a "border fortification campaign" since 2024, after its, leader Kim Jong-un, declared inter-Korean relations to be those of “two hostile states.”
The work has included land clearing, tactical road construction, mine placement and fence installation north of the MDL.
The fact sheet also disclosed details of ongoing communication between the UNC and the KPA. According to the command, North Korea notified the UNC in advance of plans to sever inter-Korean transportation links in 2024, and later informed it of fence construction and road repair projects.
The UNC also said it had issued warnings when North Korean troops operated close to the MDL, adding that KPA personnel adjusted their posture and moved northward to avoid accidental crossings.
It is not the first time the Lee Jae Myung administration and UNC have publicly disagreed over border issues.
Late last year, lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea proposed a bill to give the South Korean government greater leeway to approve nonmilitary access to the DMZ — authority which has been exclusively held by UNC since 1953. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also showed support for the bill.
In response, the UNC issued a rare public statement to assert its “exclusive authority” over access to the DMZ.