Two Koreas, UN forces agree to remove weapons at border
DISCORD: US Treasury calls reveal ‘deep concern’ over S Korea banks’ N Korea plans
SEOUL: North and South Korea and the UN Command agreed on Monday to withdraw firearms and guard posts in the demilitarised zone village of Panmunjom this week, Seoul’s defence ministry said, the latest move in a fastimproving relationship.
The three sides held their second round of talks at Panmunjom to discuss ways to demilitarise the border in line with a recent inter-korean pact reached at last month’s summit in Pyongyang.
The Us-led UNC, which has overseen affairs in the DMZ since the end of hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War, was not immediately available for comment, but it said on Friday it supports the two Koreas’ efforts to implement their military deal.
The announcement comes amid US concerns that the inter-korean military initiative could undermine defence readiness and comes without substantial progress on North Korea’s promised denuclearisation.
The neighbours are looking to withdraw 11 guard posts within a 1-km radius of the Military Demarcation Line on their border by the end of the year.
They also plan to pull out all firearms from a Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom and cut to 35 each the numbers of personnel stationed there and share information on surveillance equipment.
At Monday’s meeting, the three sides agreed to remove firearms and guard posts from the JSA by Thursday, and carry out a joint inspection over the following two days, the ministry said.
The two Koreas have been removing landmines around the area as part of the agreement and they confirmed the completion of the demining operation at the talks with the UNC.
“We discussed the timeline of the pullout of firearms and guard posts, as well as ways to adjust the number of guard personnel and conduct joint inspections,” the ministry said in a statement. The agreement also includes a halt in “all hostile acts” and a no-fly zone around the border.
North and South Korea are technically still at war because the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, but relations have improved considerably in the last year.
After his third summit in Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the North was ready to invite international experts to watch the dismantling of a key missile site and would close the main Yongbyon nuclear complex if Washington took reciprocal actions.
Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department is “deeply concerned” about planned financial cooperation between North and South Korea and has told South Korean banks that “UN and US sanctions on North Korea remain valid”, a South Korean regulatory document has shown.
The document, drafted by South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) and released on Monday after a parliamentary audit, reveals the US Treasury Department’s unusual direct calls to South Korean banks, and highlights another sign of discord between Washington and Seoul over North Korea.
While maintaining that it remains in lockstep with Washington, the administration of South Korea’s Moon Jae-in has forged ahead with efforts to engage with the North, drawing US concern over a range of issues, from sanctions enforcement to plans for a no-fly zone between the two Koreas.
Just after Kim and Moon signed an agreement in Pyongyang on September 19 during their third summit this year, an unidentified deputy assistant secretary at the US Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence called executives in charge of compliance at seven South Korean banks, according to the document.