North Korea and South Korea remove landmines along the demilitarized zone at Panmunjom and Arrow Head Hill

Seoul, South Korea – Seoul said on Monday that rival rivals had begun removing mines and other explosives from two sites inside their heavily-armed border as part of their recent tension-reduction measures. They are likely to end up with a very small portion of the estimated 2 million mines in and around the 155-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone.

But it will be the first joint de-mining effort of the two countries for more than a decade and is taking place in a context of international diplomacy aimed at ridding North Korea of ​​its nuclear weapons. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to begin a series of direct talks with his North Korean counterparts in the near future. statement officially ending the Korean War on the table.

Below you will find a more detailed overview of demining and what it really means:

The sites

The removal of the mine from Monday took place in the Koreas Common Security Zone in the Panmunjom Joint Border Village and in another front zone where both countries are planning their first joint research on the remnants of soldiers killed during the Korean War.

Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed in 1953 to end hostilities in the war, is the most famous site of the DMZ. Rival soldiers face each other within a few feet of each other and have been the scene of bloodshed and violence, including the 1976 assassination of two American soldiers. But it is also a meeting place as two of the three inter-Korean meetings held so far this year and its mystique makes it a popular tourist destination.

In the framework of agreements signed by their defense chiefs on the sidelines of the September summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the clearance of the joint security inscribed in make it a "place of peace and unity".

The other cleared area is around the "Arrow Head Hill", where some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place on a strategically important position at the top of a hill.

The Seoul Defense Ministry said the remains of about 300 South Korean, French and American soldiers would be in the area. The remains of a large number of Chinese and North Korean soldiers are also likely to be present.

During the war, a US-run US-run French battalion repelled a series of Chinese attacks in the area in October 1952, months before a division of the South Korean army rejected similar Chinese attacks.

The mines

Experts estimate that the South Korean and US armed forces have planted about 1 to 1.2 million mines south of the demilitarized zone while North Korea has set aside about 800,000 to 1 million mines. It is unclear how many mines are in Panmunjom and Arrow Head Hill, but military commentator Lee Illwoo said the Koreas would be able to clear up to tens of thousands of people.

Experts believe that the two Koreas have mismanaged their mines and do not know exactly how much they have planted and in what specific places. It is not unusual for North Korean timber mining cases to cause a swollen river to flow in the summer, causing fatal incidents in South Korea. The explosion of a DMZ mine in 2015 blamed on North Korea mutilated two South Korean soldiers, pushing rivals to the brink of an armed conflict. Many South Korean mines have also been dislodged due to floods or landslides.

In Panmunjom, the Koreas have to spend 20 days clearing mines before removing troops, weapons and guard posts in the region in the next five days. They later predict that 35 unarmed soldiers on either side will guard the village and allow tourists to freely cross concrete slabs at the ankles that mark the border.

In the case of Arrow Head Hill, they aim to remove the mines by the end of November. After building a cross-border road and forming a joint excavation team, the Koreas must launch a seven-month effort to locate the water remnants in April of next year.

The ramifications

Monday's demining is the first of its kind since the Koreas have worked together to clear mines and explosives in a few border areas in order to accommodate the economy and transportation projects currently stalled in the 2000s. agreements reached between the defense chiefs include the removal of front-line guard posts and the creation of buffer zones along land, sea and air borders, where live fire drills and military flights would be prohibited.

"This is the beginning of peace," said Kim Ki-ho, head of the Korean Private Institute for Mine Action Research. "We need to remove these mines, although we do not remove all mines from the demilitarized zone."

Lee, the commentator, has downplayed the importance of mine removal, saying that "North Korea's military threats will not go away even if we get rid of a small number of mines." First line".

The complete elimination of all DMZ mines could be a dilemma for both Koreas. South Korea would be more vulnerable to the infiltration and assault of North Korea by land, while North Korea would fear that front-line soldiers and residents would no longer escape through South, said Lee. Most of the North Korean refugees living in the south fled via the less protected border with China.

In recent years, South Korea unilaterally withdrew thousands of mines near the demilitarized zone as part of efforts to improve the lives and safety of civilians near the border area. Seoul's Ministry of Defense told lawmakers in 2015 that at this rate, it would take about 200 years to remove all mines on the south side of the demilitarized zone and the nearby front-line areas.

If the demining effort is sustained and successful, it would be seen as a step forward in the international campaign to ban landmines, said Kim Jae-yeop, professor of defense strategy at Hannam University in South Korea.

The United States and South Korea are among the most prominent countries that refused to sign the Ottawa Convention banning the use of mines during the war, which came into force in 1999, mainly because mines are heavily used.