ROK to withdraw part of guard posts in border areas with DPRK on trial basis

SEOUL - Defense Minister Song Young-moo of the Republic of Korea (ROK) said Tuesday that the military will pull out a part of guard posts in border areas with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on a trial basis as agreed upon at the inter-Korean military talks.

Song told a parliamentary defense committee hearing that the ROK and the DPRK agreed to withdraw a couple of guard posts inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which separates the Korean Peninsula, on a trial basis and then increase the number.

The agreement was reached during the general-grade, inter-Korean military talks in late July, in which the two sides also agreed to disarm the Joint Security Area (JSA) inside the border village of Panmunjom and jointly excavate the remains of fallen soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The ROK's defense chief said the militaries of the two sides will first withdraw guard posts placed less than 1 km from each other, noting that the closest one is located some 700 meters away from each other.

The withdrawal would be a part of efforts to implement the Panmunjom Declaration, which ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un signed after their first summit meeting on April 27 in Panmunjom.

Moon and Kim agreed to defuse military tensions by transforming the DMZ into a peace zone and the sea border into a maritime peace zone.