By Lee Min-hyung
The two Koreas have implemented an agreement signed in mid-September designed to prevent any military conflict with each other on their land, sea and air borders, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.
“As of Nov. 1, Seoul and Pyongyang will put a complete end to any hostile activities against each other on land, sea and air boundaries,” a military official said.
“In particular, South Korea has shut down artillery facilities set up on the Yeonpyeong and Baengnyeong Island on the West Sea to fulfill the joint military agreement agreed during the inter-Korean summit on Sept. 19,” said the official.
Under the agreement, Seoul and Pyongyang will not carry out any maritime firing exercises and regiment-level field training within five kilometers of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) as of Thursday, according to the defense ministry.
On the southern side, artillery weapons, including the K-9 self-propelled howitzers, will not be fired. The North also pledged to not use any of its artillery to keep the ongoing peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula on track.
The joint agreement signed between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un outlines a series of steps to disarm the border area and ease lingering military tension in the region.
Starting Thursday, both sides also started operating the inter-Korean “buffer zone” near the land, sea and air borders.
“The South Korean military will also continue to maintain close defense cooperation with the United Nations Command (UNC) and the United States Forces Korea (USFK) in implementing the inter-Korean military agreement,” the ministry said.
North Korea also expressed its official pledge to put a complete end to any inter-Korean military provocations from Thursday during a generals' dialogue last week, it added.
As of Oct. 27, the two Koreas and the UNC completed verification of the disarmament of troops in the Joint Security Area (JSA) in the border area.