Seoul, August 22: Viewing a growing camaraderie between North and South Korea, the two countries have agreed to close some guard posts along their border on a trial basis. Seoul’s defence minister on Tuesday informed the parliament about this decision amid a rapid diplomatic thaw.
The Demilitarized Zone that has divided the peninsula since the end of the Korean War in 1953 is one of the most fortified places on earth, with the areas on either side of it rising with obstacles and barbed-wire fences.
Song Young-moo said the South would withdraw around 10 guard posts as part of confidence-building measures following the landmark summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the South’s President Moon Jae-in in April. Explaining the withdrawal, Song Young moo said that South Korea will first withdraw one or two guard posts and then gradually expand it adding that the North would take reciprocal measures.
The North and South have agreed to withdraw guard posts that are closest to each other. The closest is about 700 metres away and they will begin withdrawing guard posts that are within one kilometer. The defense ministry official said that the issue was still under the process of further discussion.
The 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war. The DMZ, designated as a buffer zone, bisects the Korean peninsula and is about four kilometres wide. It includes a Joint Security Area around the truce village of Panmunjom, where negotiations take place.