Once a venue for historic summits, truce village weighed down with tension amid NK threats
The entrance of Camp Bonifas, the United Nations Command Security Battalion, located just south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, is seen in this Dec. 7 file photo. Yonhap
Standing just south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, Camp Bonifas, the base camp for the United Nations Command (UNC) security forces, has witnessed ups and downs through 70 years of inter-Korean relations.
The camp's motto emblazoned on the entrance, "In Front of Them All," is a grim reflection of its commitment to maintain peace in a divided country, which is still technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Previously Camp Kitty Hawk, Camp Bonifas was renamed after a JSA officer, Capt. Arthur Bonifas, who was slain by North Korean soldiers in 1976 while trimming a tree blocking the view between outposts in what is commonly known as The Axe Murder Incident.
Personnel in the forward base provide security for the UNC personnel and their guests within the Joint Security Area (JSA), also known as the truce village of Panmunjom.
Among their high-profile guests were former liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who shook hands, sipped tea and took a friendly stroll on a pedestrian bridge within Panmunjom during their 2018 summit.
In June 2019, former U.S. President Donald Trump made history by briefly crossing the Military Demarcation Line into the North side of the JSA in his meeting with Kim, which was aimed at easing tension on the Korean Peninsula.
The brief period of reconciliatory mood is gone, for now.
Tensions have flared up in the DMZ after North Korea in late November vowed to scrap an inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement and restore all military measures halted under the deal.
Since then, the North has been reinstalling guard posts and deploying heavy arms within the DMZ, Seoul's defense ministry said. North Korean soldiers in the JSA, the only spot in the DMZ where soldiers stand face-to-face, were also spotted carrying pistols in recent weeks, according to sources.
The latest moves come after the conservative administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol partially suspended the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) that set up buffer zones in the land, sea and air in protest of Pyongyang's Nov. 21 spy satellite launch and resumed aerial surveillance along the border.
Amid the heightened tension, civilian tours to the truce village have been suspended again, just days after the government partially resumed the tour program on Nov. 22. It had been halted since mid-July following U.S. Army private Travis King crossing the border into North Korea.
During a recent visit to the camp, the gateway for Panmunjom tours, several buses with U.S. government license plates were parked in the camp's visitor center, with no passengers.
The tit-for-tat shows of force between the two Koreas has raised concerns among the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), which oversees the armistice implementation at the heavily fortified border.
Maj. Gen. Lena Persson Herlitz, left, the head of the Swedish delegation of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), and Maj. Gen. Ivo Burgener, the head of the NNSC's Swiss delegation, pose for photos at the Joint Security Area Visitor Center at Camp Bonifas, just south of the Demilitarized Zone, separating the two Koreas, in this undated file photo. Yonhap
Maj. Gen. Ivo Burgener, the head of the Swiss component of the NNSC, said he has witnessed "more movement" by North Korean soldiers in the DMZ over the past two weeks, without elaborating.
"The risk exists. It's a reality. The potential is here," Burgener said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Thursday at Camp Bonifas.
Burgerner expressed concerns that the nullified military accord could raise the risk of misunderstandings and clashes, which could make observers' mission "more difficult" and "busier."
In the wake of the latest development, the UNC vowed to continue to monitor the situation, saying its mission is unchanged in "managing, implementing and enforcing" the 1953 Armistice Agreement.
"The Joint Security Area remains a neutral ground for dialogue and de-escalation. UNC continues to monitor the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and it is our intent to maintain peace and security," the UNC said in a statement.
Maj. Gen. Lena Persson Herlitz, the head of the Swedish component, said North Korea has emerged as a "global threat" by expanding cooperation with Russia and China, intensifying the polarization of international order against a "democratic state that is following the rules-based international order."
To manage the risk of conflicts and mishaps, Herlitz stressed the importance of mutually agreed-upon rules and efforts to resume dialogue with Pyongyang.
"It is always good to have rules, and hopefully both sides follow them," she said. "Of course, we prefer to have buffer zones."
Herlitz said North Koreans are always welcome at T1, the NNSC's conference room, located just south of the MDL, saying, "We are always open for dialogue." (Yonhap)