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Trilateral talks held on border area

China Daily | Updated: 2018-10-17 07:48
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The DPRK's Ri Son-gwon (left), chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, shakes hands with the ROK's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (right) during their meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom inside demilitarized zone, the ROK, Oct 15, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

ROK, DPRK vow to make DMZ a 'place of peace and reconciliation'

SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and the United Nations Command, led by the United States, held their first three-way talks on Tuesday to discuss demilitarizing the border as the two neighbors push for peace, Seoul's Defense Ministry said.

The DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un and ROK President Moon Jae-in agreed during last month's summit in Pyongyang to form a tripartite consultation with the UNC, which overlaps with US forces in the ROK and oversees affairs in the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, to facilitate their plan to disarm one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers.

The accord includes halting military exercises, a no-fly zone near their border and the gradual removal of landmines and guard posts in the DMZ.

The closed-door meeting took place at the border village of Panmunjom and was led by colonel-level military officials from each side, the ROK ministry said in a statement.

As an initial step, Seoul and Pyongyang are seeking to pull out 11 guard posts within a 1-kilometer radius of the Military Demarcation Line by the end of this year.

They began demining in several small areas this month and will build roads to facilitate a pilot project slated for April to excavate remains of soldiers missing from the 1950-53 Korean War.

Both sides will also withdraw all firearms from the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom, scale down personnel stationed there to 35 on each side in line with the armistice agreement, and share information of their surveillance equipment.

Tourists from both sides and overseas will be allowed to freely come and go within the JSA.

The measures, designed to come about over the period of one month, would transform the border into a "place of peace and reconciliation", the ministry has said.

"Most of the operations will actually be executed by the two neighbors but ensuring UNC support matters, as it has US elements and also manages the Military Armistice Commission," a ROK military source said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

The JSA is overseen by the UNC and by the DPRK, with ROK and DPRK border guards facing each other only meters apart. It is located inside the 4-km-wide DMZ which has formed the de facto border between the two neighbors since the Korean War.

The JSA has been used for diplomatic engagements but was also a site of occasional bloodshed during the Cold War.

Clearing mines

Soldiers from the two neighbors in past weeks have been clearing mines from the area following a broad agreement meant to reduce military tensions that was forged during the summit last month.

They also agreed on Monday to begin reconnecting rail and road links in spite of US concerns that the rapid DPRK-ROK thaw could undermine efforts to press Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

They also agreed to discuss late this month a plan to pursue a bid to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games, and to explore in November ways to restart webcam reunions and video exchanges for families separated by the Korean War.

Meetings will also be held on reforestation on Oct 22, and on health and disease prevention in late October at a joint liaison office opened last month in the DPRK border city of Kaesong.

The two countries are technically still at war because the war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Reuters - Afp - Xinhua

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