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| A Korea Forest Service helicopter flies over Paju, a border city in Gyeonggi Province near the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to spray disinfectant over the buffer zone, last Friday. Yonhap |
By Jung Da-min
The South Korean military is continuing to spray disinfectant over the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to prevent the spread of African swine fever (ASF), in an operation that started last Friday. Disinfection efforts will continue for about a week, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
The military is using helicopters in consultation with the United Nations Command (UNC) which oversees activities within the buffer zone. It has also notified North Korea.
"Gen. Robert B. 'Abe' Abrams, Commander, United Nations Command, authorized the Republic of Korea to fly helicopters ... into the Demilitarized Zone — which is designated restricted airspace in accordance with the Armistice Agreement — to conduct decontamination spraying [to] support African Swine Fever containment efforts," read a statement by the UNC, Sunday.
Last Wednesday, traces of the deadly animal virus were found in a dead wild boar in the DMZ in Yeoncheon, a border city in Gyeonggi Province, the defense ministry and the Ministry of Environment announced the following day.
Speculation has arisen that wild boars from the North that crossed the border were the cause of the spread of ASF in the South. The first outbreak of ASF was confirmed in Paju, another border city in Gyeonggi Province, Sept.16; so far there have been 13 confirmed cases of ASF at farms in Paju and Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province, and Ganghwa in Incheon.
Three wild boars believed to have swum from the North have been detected by the South's military's monitoring cameras on the coast off Ganghwa, according to data submitted to Rep. Kim Hyun-kwon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), a member of the National Assembly Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee.
"These wild boars seemed to have swum across the sea (to come to the South) and again crossed the border to the North (through the sea route)," Kim said. "This has revealed that the water route is vulnerable to wild boars that cross the border. We need to tighten security control over the Han River and the Imjin River."
In response, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo presided at a meeting to evaluate the ASF situation, last Thursday, and reaffirmed the military's response. This includes monitoring the possible entrance of wild boars boring under fences at the General Out Post ― although the military said this was "unlikely" ― and capturing or shooting the animals on sight if they cross the border by land or water.
If a wild boar is seen crossing the fences in the DMZ, soldiers will shoot them, but if they are seen below the southern limit line, people with hunting licenses will shoot them if needed, a military official said.
So far, the South's military has not shot any wild boars, according to the defense ministry.
Meanwhile, the UNC said that visits and tours to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjeom in the DMZ has been temporarily suspended beginning last Tuesday, at a request from the South Korean government as part of efforts to prevent the spread of ASF.
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