Koreas seek to turn border area into peace zone

Military officials agree on need to excavate war dead at DMZ

By Kim Yoo-chul

South and North Korea agreed Tuesday on the need to turn the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into a peace area and remove firearms from the Joint Security Area (JSA) in a step to end a military standoff along their border.

Seoul and Pyongyang also reached a “broad consensus” to jointly excavate the remains in the DMZ of South Korean and U.S. troops killed during the Korean War.

But the two Koreas failed to reach an agreement on releasing a joint statement, according to the head of the South’s five-member delegation at the generals meeting.

“A trial pullout from guard posts operated by each within the JSA will follow as the two sides shared the understanding to back away from their long-running confrontation since the end of the Korean War,” Major General Kim Do-gyun told reporters.

The JSA is the only portion of the DMZ where forces from the two Koreas stand face-to-face.

Regarding a detailed timeframe to push forward with the agreement, the Ministry of National Defense said further specifics will be discussed in upcoming working-level discussions.

“In accordance with the agreement, the two Koreas will discuss other remaining issues at working-level meetings,” Kim said, adding South Korea officially asked North Korea to send a delegation to upcoming security talks to be held in Seoul from Sept. 12 to 14.

“The North will let the South know about its decision about their possible participation in the talks,” Kim said.

Designating the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea a maritime peace zone was one of the primary issues discussed, though the two sides didn’t make any progress.

The meeting started at 10 a.m. at the Peace House on the South’s side of the border village of Panmunjeom inside the DMZ, and ended around 6:30 p.m.

The military talks were intended to end confrontation on the peninsula amid increasing efforts by Pyongyang and Seoul to accelerate the pace of engagement.

The talks also comes in the wake of the North returning the reported remains of U.S. war dead.

Thursday’s agreement wasn’t a breakthrough, however, as analysts expected the two Koreas could have agreed on “broad measures” to ease tension in line with the April 27 summit accord signed by President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Some critics say the meeting was a bit overshadowed by recent U.S. intelligence reports which suggested that Pyongyang was continuing to develop its long-range ballistic missiles despite an earlier commitment to dismantle key facilities.

Lieutenant General An Ik-san, who led the North Korean delegation said before the meeting began: “We are ready for open communication in the talks to make a good impression to people in North Korea that the military is able to handle complex issues.”

“What I want to add is that the two sides should be committed as the talks are being watched by the international community and all the people in the two Koreas,” An said.

Last week, the Ministry of Defense said it plans to cut the number of its guard posts and equipment along the heavily-guarded border as a step in implementing the Panmunjeom Declaration.