North Korean soldiers move to inspect a dismantled guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone, while a South Korean soldier stands guard in the central section of the border on Dec 12, 2018.

SEOUL - Soldiers from North and South Korea crossed into each other's territory peacefully for the first time on Wednesday (Dec 12), Seoul said, as they began checking the dismantlement of guard posts in the Demilitarised Zone.

The North invaded the South in 1950, triggering the Korean War, and Seoul went on to change hands four times as Pyongyang's Chinese-backed forces and the US-led UN troops supporting the South fought their way up and down the peninsula and back again.

The conflict ended in an armistice in 1953, leaving the two technically still in a state of war, but a rapid reconciliation has taken place this year.

The South's President Moon Jae-in and Mr Kim Jong Un, leader of the nuclear-armed North, agreed to remove a limited number of guard posts along their heavily-fortified frontier at a September summit in Pyongyang, among other measures.

North Korea blew up 10 of its facilities in November, while the South tore 10 down on its own side using excavators.

South Korean inspectors visited each of the guard posts on the North's side on Wednesday to make sure they had been dismantled and all firearms and troops removed, Seoul's Defence Ministry said.

North Korean inspectors carried out the same process at the South's bunkers in the afternoon, it added.

North Korean soldiers working near the Military Demarcation Line to construct a tactical road to support a joint war remains recovery project in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas in Cheorwon.

Video footage showed armed South Korean soldiers shaking hands with North Korean personnel at the military demarcation line in the centre of the DMZ, before crossing to the other side.

Led by the North Koreans, the Southerners walked along a path where the North's guard posts had once stood, soldiers from both sides taking photos and filming the process as they chatted.

"This marks the first time since the division that the soldiers of the North and South... are peacefully crossing the military demarcation line," the ministry said in a statement.

The North is known to have more guard posts - which include both surface structures and underground elements - and according to Yonhap news agency, it now has around 150 in the DMZ, with the South having about 50.

Despite its name, the area around the DMZ is one of the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire fences.

But under the plans to ease tensions agreed in Pyongyang, the two Koreas have demilitarised the border truce village of Panmunjom, leaving it manned by 35 unarmed personnel from each side.

Officially called the Joint Security Area (JSA), the enclave is the only spot along the 250-kilometre frontier where soldiers from the two Koreas and the US-led UN Command stand face-to-face.

The dovish Mr Moon has pursued a policy of engagement with the North, in increasing contrast to Washington, which insists pressure should be maintained on Pyongyang until it denuclearises. </s> Dozens of North and South Korean soldiers have crossed over the world’s most heavily armed border as they inspected the sites of rival frontline guard posts to verify they had been removed.

The checks were part of Korean engagement efforts that come amid stalled US-North Korea nuclear disarmament talks.

Soldiers from the two Koreas exchanged cigarettes and chatted as they inspected the dismantlement or disarmament of 22 guard posts — 11 from each country — inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that forms their 155-mile long border.

The inspections were mostly symbolic, as the removals will leave South Korea with about 50 other DMZ posts and North Korea with 150, according to defence experts in South Korea.

But they mark an extraordinary change in ties from last year, when North Korea tested a series of increasingly powerful weapons and threatened Seoul and Washington with war.

A small group of journalists was allowed to enter the zone to watch a South Korean team leave for a North Korean guard post and a North Korean team come to a South Korean guard post later in the day.

Seven helmeted South Korean soldiers approached the line separating the northern and southern sides of the DMZ.

North Korean troops then walked in a row down a hill to meet them. The soldiers from the rival Koreas exchanged handshakes before moving up the hill together to go to the dismantled North Korean guard post.

Other groups of South Korean soldiers simultaneously visited 10 other North Korean guard posts.

They inspected whether the guard posts and any underground structures have been completely dismantled and whether all troops, weapons and other equipment have been withdrawn, according to Seoul’s Defence Ministry.

Hours later, seven North Korean soldiers clad in olive-green uniforms crossed the same borderline and were then escorted by South Korean troops to the concrete and steel debris of a destroyed South Korean post. North Korean teams also visited 10 other South Korean sites.

South Korea’s liberal president, Moon Jae-in, the driving force behind the current engagement effort, watched parts of the verification broadcast live at an underground bunker in Seoul.

Mr Moon called the work “a new milestone” in inter-Korean history that was “unimaginable in the past”.

North Korean soldiers allowed South Korean soldiers to use stethoscope-like equipment to inspect whether there were any underground tunnels below the site, South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters.

The Demilitarised Zone was originally created as a buffer between the countries at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. But contrary to its name, the DMZ has become the world’s most heavily fortified frontier after the rival Koreas planted an estimated 2 million mines, deployed combat troops and heavy weapons and set up layers of barbed wire fences.

When the leaders of the Koreas met in Pyongyang in September, they agreed to lower military tensions along their border, including the withdrawal of some DMZ guard posts, halting live-fire exercises near the border, demilitarising their shared border village of Panmunjom and removing mines at a DMZ area to launch joint searches for Korean War dead. </s> INSIDE THE DEMILITARIZED ZONE -- Dozens of North and South Korean soldiers crossed over the world's most heavily armed border Wednesday as they inspected the sites of their rival's front-line guard posts to verify they'd been removed, part of inter-Korean engagement efforts that come amid stalled U.S.-North Korea nuclear disarmament talks.

It was the first time since the Demilitarized Zone was created in 1948 to divide the two Koreas that troops from either side crossed the demarcation line peacefully, South Korea's Ministry of Defense noted.

The inspections Wednesday were mostly symbolic -- the removals will leave South Korea with about 50 other DMZ posts and North Korea with 150, according to defense experts in South Korea, but they mark an extraordinary change in ties from last year, when North Korea tested a series of increasingly powerful weapons and threatened Seoul and Washington with war.

Soldiers from the two Koreas exchanged cigarettes and chatted as they inspected the dismantlement or disarmament of 22 guard posts -- 11 from each country -- inside the Demilitarized Zone that forms 155-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide border.

A small group of journalists was allowed to enter the zone to watch a South Korean team leave for a North Korean guard post Wednesday morning and a North Korean team come to a South Korean guard post later in the day.

Seven helmeted South Korean soldiers wearing backpacks, one carrying a camera and another a camcorder, approached the line separating the northern and southern sides of the DMZ. North Korean troops then walked in a row down a hill to meet them. The soldiers from the rival Koreas exchanged handshakes before moving up the hill together to go to the dismantled North Korean guard post.

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Other groups of South Korean soldiers simultaneously visited 10 other North Korean guard posts. They inspected whether the guard posts and any underground structures have been completely dismantled and whether all troops, weapons and other equipment have been withdrawn, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry.

Hours later, seven North Korean soldiers clad in olive-green uniforms crossed the same borderline and were then escorted by South Korean troops to the concrete and steel debris of a destroyed South Korean post. North Korean teams also visited 10 other South Korean sites.

South Korea's liberal president, Moon Jae-in, the driving force behind the current engagement effort, watched parts of the verification broadcast live at an underground bunker in Seoul. Moon called the work "a new milestone" in inter-Korean history that was "unimaginable in the past," according to his office.

North Korean soldiers allowed South Korean soldiers to use stethoscope-like equipment to inspect whether there were any underground tunnels below the site, South Korean presidential spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters.

The Demilitarized Zone was originally created as a buffer between the countries at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. But contrary to its name, the DMZ has become the world's most heavily fortified frontier after the rival Koreas planted an estimated 2 million mines, deployed combat troops and heavy weapons and set up layers of barbed wire fences.

Where does the promise to denuclearize the Korean peninsula stand?

When the leaders of the Koreas met in Pyongyang in September, they agreed to lower military tensions along their border, including the withdrawal of some DMZ guard posts, halting live-fire exercises near the border, demilitarizing their shared border village of Panmunjom and removing mines at a DMZ area to launch joint searches for Korean War dead.

Conservatives in South Korea have criticized the deals, saying Seoul shouldn't have agreed to such conventional arms reduction programs because North Korea's nuclear threat remains unchanged.

U.S.-led nuclear diplomacy aimed at stripping North Korea of its nuclear program has reported little progress since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump met for a summit in Singapore in June. North Korea has made a vague disarmament pledge, and some experts say the North's turn to diplomacy after last year's string of weapons tests is aimed at weakening U.S.-led sanctions. </s> Seoul: Soldiers from North and South Korea crossed into each other’s territory peacefully for the first time on Wednesday, Seoul said, as they began checking the dismantlement of guard posts in the Demilitarized Zone.

 The North invaded the South in 1950, triggering the Korean War, and Seoul went on to change hands four times as Pyongyang’s Chinese-backed forces and the US-led UN troops supporting the South fought their way up and down the peninsula and back again.

 The conflict ended in an armistice in 1953, leaving the two technically still in a state of war, but a rapid reconciliation has taken place this year.

 The South’s President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, leader of the nuclear-armed North, agreed to remove a limited number of guard posts along their heavily-fortified frontier at a September summit in Pyongyang, among other measures.

 North Korea blew up 10 of its facilities in November, while the South tore 10 down on its own side using excavators. South Korean inspectors visited each of the guard posts on the North’s side on Wednesday to make sure they had been dismantled and all firearms and troops removed, Seoul’s defence ministry said.

 North Korean inspectors carried out the same process at the South’s bunkers in the afternoon, it added. Video footage showed armed South Korean soldiers shaking hands with North Korean personnel at the military demarcation line in the centre of the DMZ, before crossing to the other side.

 Led by the North Koreans, the Southerners walked along a path where the North’s guard posts had once stood, soldiers from both sides taking photos and filming the process as they chatted. “This marks the first time since the division that the soldiers of the North and South… are peacefully crossing the military demarcation line,” the ministry said in a statement.

 The North is known to have more guard posts — which include both surface structures and underground elements — and according to Yonhap news agency it now has around 150 in the DMZ, with the South having about 50. Despite its name, the area around the DMZ is one of the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire fences.

 But under the plans to ease tensions agreed in Pyongyang, the two Koreas have demilitarised the border truce village of Panmunjom, leaving it manned by 35 unarmed personnel from each side. Officially called the Joint Security Area (JSA), the enclave is the only spot along the 250-kilometre (155-mile) frontier where soldiers from the two Koreas and the US-led UN Command stand face to face. (AFP) </s> The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on October 1, 2018 7:28 AM

South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a luncheon, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 21, 2018. KCNA via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - Troops from North and South Korea began removing some landmines along their heavily fortified border on Monday, the South's defence ministry said, as part of a pact to reduce tension and build trust on the divided peninsula.

Project details were agreed during last month's summit in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, between its leader, Kim Jong Un, and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

In a statement, the ministry said the two sides agreed to remove all landmines in the so-called Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom within the next 20 days, with military engineers performing the hazardous task on the South Korean side.

There was no immediate confirmation from North Korea that its troops had begun the process.

The deal also provides for removal of guard posts and weapons from the JSA to follow the removal of the mines, with the troops remaining there to be left unarmed.

The JSA is the only spot along the 250-km (155-mile) -long "demilitarised zone" (DMZ) where troops from both Koreas are face to face, and it is also staffed by United Nations troops.

In November 2017, North Korean troops at the JSA shot one of their soldiers defecting to the South five times.

Since then, however, it has been the scene of the first dramatic April summit between Kim and Moon, as well as their second, more low-key meeting, in May.

At the April summit, the two Koreas announced their intention to turn the DMZ - long a symbol of tension and division - into a "peace zone."

They have already dismantled propaganda loudspeakers and some guard posts along the border.

Demining projects are also set to begin on Monday in Gangwon province in eastern South Korea, to allow teams to search for the remains of soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War, the ministry added.

More than a million landmines were laid in border areas including the DMZ and the Civilian Control Zone in the South, say demining experts, and civilians and soldiers alike have been killed or injured by them.

In 2015, two South Korean soldiers were maimed by what Seoul said was a North Korean landmine, an accusation the North denied. </s> SEOUL: Soldiers from North and South Korea are set to verify the dismantlement of guard posts in the demilitarised zone Wednesday (Dec 12), Seoul said, after crossing into each other's territory peacefully for the first time.

The removal of 20 posts along the heavily-fortified frontier was one of the steps agreed at a September summit between the South's President Moon Jae-in and the North's leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, part of a rapid reconciliation drive on the peninsula.

In November, North Korea blew up the 10 facilities while the South tore down 10 on its own side using excavators.

Seoul's defence ministry said early Wednesday that South Korean inspectors will visit each of the guard posts on the North's side to verify their dismantlement and to ensure that all firearms and troops have been removed.

North Korean inspectors will carry out the same process at the South's bunkers, it added.

"This marks the first time since the division that the soldiers of the North and South ... are peacefully crossing the military demarcation line," the ministry said in a statement.

The dovish Moon has pursued a policy of engagement with its isolated, nuclear-armed neighbour, in increasing contrast to Washington, which insists pressure should be maintained on Pyongyang until it denuclearises.

Despite its name, the area around the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) is one of the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire fences.

But under plans to ease tensions agreed in Pyongyang, the two Koreas have demilitarised the border truce village of Panmunjom, leaving it manned by 35 unarmed personnel from each side.

Officially called the Joint Security Area (JSA), the enclave is the only spot along the 250km frontier where soldiers from the two Koreas and the US-led UN Command stand face to face. </s> In scenes that would have been unthinkable just a year ago, soldiers from North and South Korea shake hands across their joint border.

Officials crossed into each other’s territories peacefully for the first time as they began to dismantle guard posts in the demilitarised zone.

The North invaded the South in 1950, triggering the Korean War.

The conflict ended in an armistice in 1953, leaving the two sides technically still in a state of war.

However this year there has been a rapid reconciliation and moves have been made to demolish a number of guard posts along their heavily-fortified frontier.

The North exploded 10 of its facilities while its southern neighbour excavated a further ten on their side.

It is the first step in a military pact reached in September between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Today teams from each of the countries inspected the other side’s work, looking for secret tunnels where firearms could have been hidden.

A statement read: ‘This marks the first time since the division that the soldiers of the North and South are peacefully crossing the military demarcation line.’

A year ago, such a joint operation by some 77 officials from the two sides would have been unthinkable.

North Korea’s repeated missile tests and its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September 2017, in defiance of U.N. and U.S. warnings, had stirred fears of war.

But things have changed at a head-spinning pace over the past 12 months.

In a New Year message last year, Kim extended an olive branch to old enemy South Korea, then sent a team to the Winter Olympics there in February, and held three summits with Moon over the course of the year.

Kim also met U.S. President Donald Trump for an unprecedented summit in Singapore in June.

Moon said the removal of the border guard posts and Wednesday’s two-way verification exercise marked a ‘new milestone’ in the 65-year division of the peninsula.

‘It’s something we couldn’t even imagine in the past that the South and the North build trails in the Demilitarised Zone where they confronted each other, and pull out the guard posts and transparently verify it,’ Moon told aides after watching a broadcast of the inspection.

He added that the atmosphere was ‘cordial’ and soldiers chatted and shared cigarettes.

Moon is hoping to host Kim in Seoul for their fourth summit, perhaps as early as this month, but North Korea has been aloof amid stalled nuclear talks with the United States. </s> Vice President Mike Pence is making a surprise visit to the Korean Demilitarized Zone while touring the Asia-Pacific region for the first time since taking office.

Pence landed via helicopter at Camp Bonifas, about a mile from the southern boundary of the zone, around 8:30 p.m. ET. He will be receiving a security briefing from Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, and will then visit the Freedom House observation post in the Korean DMZ.

The visit comes just a day after North Korea's failed missile launch, and one month since Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to the DMZ, where he was notably photographed by a North Korean soldier standing on the other side of an observation post.

Briefly addressing reporters in Camp Bonifas, Pence praised the "unshakeable bond" between the U.S. and Korean people.

"My father served in the Korean War with the U.S. Army, and on the way here, we actually saw some of the terrain my father fought alongside Korean forces to help earn your freedom," Pence said. "It’s a great honor to be with all of our forces." </s> SEOUL, South Korea — A North Korean man defected to South Korea on Sunday after swimming south with plastic foam pieces on his shoulders to help keep him afloat, the military was quoted as saying.

It was the second such rare defection across the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula in less than a week. South Korean officials have said the number of North Korean defectors has been on the rise, but most travel via China and other countries first.

South Korean marines found the man, in his early 20s, around 2:30 a.m. Sunday near an observation post on the northern part of the Han River just west of Seoul in Gimpo, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The military said he was discovered at a particularly narrow stretch in the river after swimming south buoyed by the plastic foam pieces, according to Yonhap. He reportedly screamed, “Don’t kill me. I am here to defect,” after he was spotted by a South Korean marine.

The Unification Ministry, which oversees ties between the two countries, has said the number of North Koreans who have fled to the South since the end of the Korean War surpassed 30,000 in November.

Officials believe people are increasingly trying to escape the isolated country as leader Kim Jong Un moves to consolidate his rule after taking over when his father, Kim Jong Il, died of a heart attack in 2011.

Tensions also have been on the rise over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and the U.N. Security Council has accordingly tightened economic sanctions against the communist state.

It’s extremely difficult to cross the border by land or sea because the two Koreas remain technically at war and are separated by the Demilitarized Zone, which is dotted with land mines. Barbed wire and guard posts also protect the shoreline of waters near the border.

Most defectors come to the South after first escaping to China and transiting through other countries. Once they arrive in South Korea, they are automatically granted citizenship after a three-month transition period for re-education and debriefing.

But some do manage to cross over. On Tuesday, a North Korean soldier crossed the Military Demarcation Line in the central sector of the DMZ and said he wanted to defect, military officials said. Two of four North Korean sailors recently rescued in the sea off the peninsula’s east coast also reportedly said they wished to defect.
A North Korean soldier crosses the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and defects to South Korea, the first since September 2016.