Defense Minister Song Young-moo said Tuesday that Seoul will withdraw about 10 border guard posts on a trial basis, in line with the April inter-Korean summit agreement to transform the Demilitarized Zone into a "peace zone."
Song did not give a specific timeline for the measure aimed at reducing military tensions and building trust with the communist state, while noting that Pyongyang will also take reciprocal steps in the buffer zone separating the two Koreas.
(Yonhap)
"What it means is that we will withdraw one or two guard posts first and then additional ones," Song told a session of the National Assembly's defense committee.
"The (South's) closest guard post lies about 700 meters away (from the North's) ... We will start pulling out the guard posts that are within 1 kilometer (of the North's guard posts)," the minister added.
During their general-grade military talks last month, the two Koreas shared their "understanding" on fostering peace in the DMZ, such as pulling out guard posts, disarming the Joint Security Area and jointly excavating remains of fallen troops.
At their summit in April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to "carry out disarmament in a phased manner, as military tension is alleviated and substantial progress is made in military confidence building."
Seoul and Pyongyang have recently taken some trust-building measures, such as fully restoring their military communication channels.(Yonhap)
