S. Korea has right to peaceful use of DMZ: minister

SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea has the right to peaceful use of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas, the government legislation minister said Thursday, adding that differences with the United Nations Command (UNC) over area control have been narrowed.

South Korea maintains that it has the right to authorize access to the DMZ for peaceful purposes. However, the U.S.-led UNC has argued that access control rests with the UNC commander under the Armistice Agreement signed by China, North Korea and the UNC at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

"If you look at the Armistice Agreement, peaceful uses are allowed," Government Legislation Minister Cho Won-cheol said during a parliamentary audit of his agency, noting the southern half of the DMZ falls within South Korea's sovereign jurisdiction.

Cho said South Korea has so far accepted without question the UNC's stance that South Korea lacks jurisdiction over the DMZ because it was not a signatory to the Armistice Agreement.

"We have begun discussions on the peaceful use (of the DMZ) in the context of exercising our right properly," Cho said, adding that the UNC side does not deny South Korea's sovereignty and acknowledges its previous "stance has greatly crossed the line."

"Positions within the government surrounding the interpretation of the Armistice Agreement have largely been clarified, and the UNC has been informed of these stances and has since somewhat moderated its position," he said. "In that sense, I think there has been a significant narrowing of views between the two sides."

(END)