Koreas, UN complete removal of troops and weapons from border

THE two Koreas and the US-led UN Command finished removing firearms and troops from a jointly controlled area at a border village yesterday, as part of agreements to reduce decades-long animosity on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea separately announced that its troops found what it believes are Korean War remains in another frontline area where they have been clearing land mines with DPRK soldiers. The two Koreas plan their first-ever joint searches for war dead there after their demining work is done.

Disarming the Joint Security Area at the border village of Panmunjom and the joint searches are among a package of deals the two Koreas’ defense ministers struck on the sidelines of their leaders’ summit last month. Other steps include creating buffer zones along their land and sea boundaries and a no-fly zone above the border, as well as removing some of their front-line guard posts.

Yesterday, two Koreas and the UN Command completed the removal of weapons, ammunition and soldiers manning guard posts at Panmunjom’s Joint Security Area, Seoul’s Defense Ministry said in a statement. The three sides earlier finished removing mines from the village.

The three sides will jointly verify their disarmament work today and tomorrow. Under the September deals, the two Koreas are to let 35 “unarmed personnel” from each side guard the Joint Security Area and let tourists move around freely.

The area symbolizes the Koreas’ seven decades of division. It’s where an armistice was signed to end fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War. Rival soldiers have faced each other only meters apart in the zone, which has been the scene of numerous incidents of bloodshed and violence. It is also a venue for talks and is a popular tourist destination.

The two Koreas are split along the 248-kilometer-long, 4-kilometer-wide border called the Demilitarized Zone that was originally created as a buffer. But unlike its name, the DMZ is now the world’s most heavily fortified border. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the DMZ, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides.

Officially, the entire DMZ area, including Panmunjom, is jointly overseen by the DPRK and the UN Command. About 28,500 US troops are deployed in South Korea to deter possible aggression from Pyongyang.

The Defense Ministry said earlier yesterday that its troops found what they believe are two sets of human remains at another DMZ spot. It was the first such discovery since South Korea began the joint demining work with Pyongyang on October 1 at a place where one of the heaviest Korean War battles took place.

According to the ministry, a bayonet, bullets and a South Korean army identification tag with the name “Pak Je Kwon” were found along with the remains. Pak was a sergeant first class who died in a battle in 1953 in the final weeks of the war. Pak has two surviving sisters and authorities will test their DNA.