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NKOREA-SKOREA-MILITARY-DIPLOMACY
Koreas to shut down some border guard posts: Seoul
SEOUL, Aug 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – North and South Korea have agreed to close
some guard posts along their border on a trial basis, Seoul’s defence
minister told parliament Tuesday amid a rapid diplomatic thaw.
The Demilitarized Zone that has divided the peninsula since the end of the
Korean War in 1953 is, despite its name, one of the most fortified places on
earth, with the areas on either side of it bristling with minefields 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.
“What it means is that we will first withdraw one or two guard posts and
gradually expand it,” Song told lawmakers, adding the North would take
reciprocal measures.
“The North and South agreed to withdraw guard posts that are closest to
each other,” he added.
“The closest is about 700 metres away and we will begin withdrawing guard
posts that are within one kilometre.”
A defence ministry official told AFP the issue was still being discussed
and declined to clarify whether the posts would be physically removed.
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 (2.5 miles) wide. It includes a Joint Security Area
around the truce village of Panmunjom, where negotiations take place.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1337 hrs