Koreas destroy guard posts

The two Koreas began destroying 20 guard posts along their heavily fortified frontier on Sunday under a plan to reduce tensions on the border.

Under an agreement made between their generals in late October, North and South Korea agreed to each remove 10 posts and preserve one on either side of the frontier.

The militaries on Sunday began destroying the 20 border guard posts in the demilitarised zone dividing the two Koreas after withdrawing troops and equipment from them, Yonhap news agency reported, citing Seoul’s defence ministry.

South Korea has about 60 such posts along the rest of the border while the North has about 160, Yonhap said.

The border truce village of Panmunjom — or the Joint Security Area — is the only spot along the tense, 250km frontier where soldiers from the two Koreas and the US-led UN Command stand face to face.

But as part of the latest reconciliatory gesture, the two Koreas removed all firearms and guard posts from the area in October, leaving it manned by 35 unarmed personnel from each side.

The moves come as a diplomatic thaw between the former wartime foes, launched earlier this year, gathers pace.

Under dovish South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Seoul has pursued a policy of engagement with its isolated neighbour, in contrast with the US, which insists that pressure should be maintained on Pyongyang until it denuclearises.

Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed on a broad plan to ease long-standing tensions along the border during their third summit in Pyongyang in September.

The two nations technically remain at war after the 1950-53 Korean War, which sealed the division of the peninsula and ended with a ceasefire instead of a peace treaty.