Koreas, US-led UN Command hold talks on demilitarising tense inter-Korean border
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed to take measures to ease military tensions on their border during their summit last month
The two Koreas and the US-led United Nations Command held talks on Tuesday on demilitarising a section of the heavily fortified border dividing the peninsula, as a diplomatic thaw gathers pace.
“The three parties examined the progress in removing landmines at the Joint Security Area (JSA) … and discussed other practical matters regarding steps toward disarming the area,” Seoul’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The JSA, also known as the truce village of Panmunjom, is the only spot along the tense, 250-kilometre (155-mile) frontier where troops from the two countries stand face to face.
It was a designated neutral zone until the “axe murder incident” in 1976, when North Korean soldiers attacked a work party trying to chop down a tree inside the demilitarised zone (DMZ), leaving two US army officers dead.
South and North Korea – which are technically still at war -- agreed to take measures to ease military tensions on their border at a meeting in Pyongyang last month between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un.
Earlier this month, the two sides began removing landmines at the JSA -- which is now often used for talks between the two Koreas -- as part of the deal, and are due to withdraw “unnecessary” surveillance equipment once the landmine work is completed.