U.N. Command to resume Panmunjom tour program amid eased COVID-19 curbs

▲ Tour buses are parked at Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, some 30 kilometers north of Seoul, on Jan. 13, 2022. (Yonhap)

Panmunjom tour-resumption

U.N. Command to resume Panmunjom tour program amid eased COVID-19 curbs

SEOUL, June 30 (Yonhap) -- Tours to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom will resume after months of suspension caused by COVID-19, the U.N. Command (UNC) said Thursday.

The UNC said it decided to restart the tours to the Joint Security Area in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in line with the South Korean government's continued easing of antivirus restrictions. It did not specify when the tours will resume.

The tours were last suspended in January due to a rise in infection cases.

As an enforcer of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War, the UNC oversees activities in the DMZ.

"The purpose of the UNC Commander's DMZ Education and Orientation Program is to increase public awareness of the security conditions on the Korean Peninsula and educate visitors on the terms of armistice that underpin peace and stability," the command said in a press release.

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