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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Officers from the two Koreas and the US-led US Command met again Monday at the border village of Korea to review ongoing efforts to disarm the region.
The demilitarization of the village of Panmunjom within the heavily fortified Korean border was one of the many agreements reached by Korea in September to reduce military tensions between its rivals.
As part of these agreements, Korean troops began clearing the Panmunjom mines earlier this month before removing their weapons and guard posts. They eventually plan to have 35 unarmed members on each side to oversee the village.
Monday's trilateral talks are the second in nature for about a week. Officially, the village is jointly supervised by North Korea and the US command, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.
Talks should focus on demining work and on measures to be taken in the region, said the South Korean Defense Ministry in a statement.
Under the September agreements, the two Koreas are withdrawing mines from another front zone where they are planning their first joint search for the remains of soldiers killed during the Korean War. The Koreas also plan to establish buffer zones along their land and sea borders, as well as a no-fly zone over the border.
Korean general officers met in Panmunjom Friday to discuss further the implementation of the agreements to reduce tensions, according to the South Korean Ministry of Defense.
Also on Monday, Korean officials met separately at their newly established liaison office in Kaesong, a border town in North Korea, to discuss how to cooperate in the forestry sector.
The Seoul Liberal government is pushing for greater engagement with North Korea, but US officials have said such initiatives should go hand in hand with global efforts to denuclearize North Korea.
