Korean soldiers cross DMZ first time since division
Seoul: North and South Korean soldiers have made several friendly crossings along the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) into each other’s territory for the first time since the countries were divided, Seoul’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
On Wednesday, South Korean inspectors visited each of the guard posts on the North’s side while North Korean inspectors later inspected the same process in the South, the BBC reported.
“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.
Footage showed the soldiers shaking hands at the border before crossing.
As part of the talks between the divided peninsula, the South’s President Moon Jae-in and the North’s Kim Jong-un agreed to remove some of the guard posts on the heavily fortified border.
Since November, both North and South have blown up or dismantled 10 of their border posts.
Both sides still have more guard posts in the DMZ, both over and underground.
Last month, a train travelled from South Korea across the border into North Korea for the first time in decades, as part of a commitment by Seoul to help Pyongyang modernise its rail network.
There has been speculation that Kim could visit Seoul this year but the South’s government earlier this week said that no such trip was expected before 2019.
Despite its misleading name, the DMZ is one of the world’s most heavily fortified places, the BBC said.
The area is a strip of land, 250 km long and 4 km wide that runs across the peninsula.
It is heavily mined and fortified with barbed wire, rows of surveillance cameras and electric fencing – and is guarded by tens of thousands of troops on both sides.