Reported by: Mahima Kapoor with Reuters and AFP | Edited by: Alex Berry
South Korea’s Defense Ministry on Friday proposed military talks with North Korea in an attempt to “mutually confirm the precise location” of their border and discuss restoring communication channels.
The ministry said it had proposed talks last November to resolve differences over the line, and reduce the risk of accidental deaths, but Pyongyang had not responded.
Why is South Korea proposing talks with the north?
The latest proposal, announced by Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Kim Hong-cheol, follows a landmine blast in the demiliterized zone (DMZ) in September that injured three South Korean soldiers.
North Korean troops have been building tactical roads, fences and been laying mines in the DMZ in the recent years. South Korea’s Kim said the North’s troops have repeatedly crossed the line in the process.
Seoul’s military also concluded that North Korea had buried mines south of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) which caused the recent blast. Pyongyang has rejected those findings.
Avoiding future incidents on the Korean peninsula
Miliatry tensions between the two Koreas has been escalating. Just days ago, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong announced that Pyongyang had moved new troops into “firing position” along the border.
She later said the North would also place loudspeakers on standby along the border, a repeated move of aggression aimed at harassing South Korean soldiers and villages along the border.
Jin Yong-sung, chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, also ordered the military to “respond with firm resolve” should North Korea use Seoul’s actions as a pretext for aggressive action.
It is difficult to predict “what further incidents could occur if this situation is allowed to continue unaddressed,” the South’s Defense Ministry said on Friday, adding that they hoped for a positive response from their rival neighbor.
It also proposed the option of “three-way talks involving the United Nations Command would also be possible.”
(Disclaimer: This report first appeared on Deutsche Welle, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.)
