Defense ministry says it's in consultations with UNC over 'effective' management of DMZ

▲ This July 24, 2018, file photo shows a sign installed in the border county of Yeoncheon in Gyeonggi Province showing that the Demilitarized Zone is nearby. (Yonhap)

defense ministry-DMZ

Defense ministry says it's in consultations with UNC over 'effective' management of DMZ

SEOUL, Feb. 6 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministry is in consultations with the United Nations Command (UNC) over ways to "effectively" manage the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, a ministry official said Friday.

The remarks came after the South Korean ministry was reported to have suggested managing parts of the southern half of the 250-kilometer-long, 4-kilometer-wide military buffer zone. Currently, the U.S.-led UNC administers the DMZ as the southern enforcer of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.

"The defense ministry is in consultations with the UNC on measures to effectively manage the DMZ while maintaining the armistice of the Korean Peninsula in a stable manner," the official said.

The official said the issue has been discussed since 2011, regardless of the administration, but that a plan to discuss such an issue on the working level was floated after the defense minister took the post.

"The aim is to officially discuss this as an agenda item," the official added, saying working-level discussions are still in the early stage.

The defense ministry's plan is known to include a measure under which South Korea's military oversees entry to parts of areas located south of the barbed-wire fence within the DMZ.

The South's fence technically runs alongside the southern boundary of the DMZ, or the Southern Limit Line (SLL), located 2 km south of the Military Demarcation Line, the inter-Korean border.

But parts of the fence were installed north of the SLL to overcome geographic limitations for surveillance operations. The size of the area is known to account for roughly 30 percent of the southern half of the DMZ.

In addition to making the request to the UNC, the ministry also seeks to include the issue as an agenda item in bilateral defense talks, such as the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue and the Security Consultative Meeting.

When asked about the issue, the UNC has reiterated a rare statement issued in December, in which it highlighted its role as the "successful administrator" of the DMZ since 1953 to ensure that "military and civilian movements within the DMZ and other activities uphold the terms and the spirit of the armistice in the interest of stability."

The issue of DMZ access control has come into the spotlight since Unification Minister Chung Dong-young voiced his support for pending bills seeking to grant the South Korean government control of nonmilitary access to the DMZ.

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