The two Koreas agreed Wednesday to set maritime, air and ground buffer zones in front-line areas to reduce military tensions, prevent accidental clashes and build trust.
They also agreed to halt military drills near the military demarcation line (MDL), withdraw some border guard posts, take steps to disarm the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and push for a joint project to excavate war remains in the DMZ.
These measures are included in the agreement that Defense Minister Song Young-moo and his North Korean counterpart, No Kwang-chol, signed after the Pyongyang summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The agreement is part of efforts to flesh out the military part of the April inter-Korean summit accord that calls for halting “all hostile acts” against each other and “practically eliminate the danger of war.”
Under the agreement, the two Koreas will set up a 10-kilometer-wide buffer zone with the MDL as the standard line. Within the zone, artillery drills and regiment-level field maneuvers will be suspended.
They will also set a maritime buffer zone spanning around 80 km in the East and West Seas to prevent unintended naval clashes.
In addition, they plan to withdraw 11 DMZ guard posts each by the end of this year and halt drills targeting each other near the MDL starting Nov. 1.
While announcing the outcome of his summit with Kim, Moon said that the two sides agreed to operate a joint military committee to discuss the implementation of their military agreement on a “permanent basis.”
Moon also pointed out that during the summit, the two Koreas agreed to remove “all threats across the peninsula” that could trigger war.
Source: Joint Press Corps-Yonhap
