(2nd LD) S. Korea proposes military talks with N. Korea to ease tensions along border

(ATTN: REWRITES headline; ADDS more background in paras 12-18)
By Kim Seung-yeon

SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea renewed its offer Friday to hold military talks with North Korea to discuss their conflicting views on where the inter-Korean border sits, seeking to ease tensions sparked by last month's land mine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Seoul and Pyongyang have traded sharp rhetoric since South Korea blamed the North for the Sept. 21 mine blast inside the DMZ that injured three South Korean troops. Pyongyang has denied responsibility and vowed to take military actions along the border, if needed.

"Different perceptions remain over the Military Demarcation Line (MDL)," Deputy Defense Minister Kim Hong-cheol said in a press briefing, referring to the border separating the two Koreas.

"South Korea's Defense Ministry hereby officially proposes holding inter-Korean military talks with North Korean authorities to jointly verify the locations of the land-based MDL, restore military communication lines and discuss measures to prevent accidental clashes along the border," he said.

Kim said trilateral dialogue involving the U.N. Command (UNC), which administers and enforces the Armistice Agreement governing the border area, can also be considered.

"If necessary, a trilateral meeting including the UNC is also possible," he said. "We expect a positive response from the North's side."

The latest escalation of tensions comes amid Seoul's suspicions that North Korean forces have repeatedly crossed the MDL to carry out border fortification work, such as erecting fences and laying mines, in potential violation of the armistice that halted the 1950-53 Korean War.

The mine blast occurred while on a mission to clear a path for a joint investigation with the UNC into the North's border-hardening activities.

Kim voiced concern over possible clashes in the future if both sides continue to let their soldiers serve in the border area based on conflicting interpretations of the boundary lines, calling for "extraordinary measures" to resolve the issue.

"The damage will not be limited to any single side," he said.

Kim said that the recent increase in the North's border activities, and the warning broadcasts and warning shots from the South's side to make North Korean troops crossing the MDL retreat are directly linked to the current circumstances.

Under the Armistice Agreement signed in 1953, the UNC and North Korea installed 1,292 marker posts along the MDL to mark the ceasefire line. However, most of them have deteriorated or been lost over time, leaving only about 200 identifiable markers as of now.

The South Korean military defines the MDL based on the mapping designated by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The UNC uses a different set of coordinates established through its own 2016 MDL project.

North Korea is believed to use its own version of the MDL based on its physical markers.

Since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared relations with the South as "two hostile states to each other," the North's military has stepped up border reinforcement work in a move seen as solidifying the regime's policy toward Seoul.

The South's military estimates the North has planted 960,000 land mines along the MDL since 2024, according to multiple lawmakers in Seoul.

South Korea has sought to open up dialogue with Pyongyang to discuss the discrepancies in the border demarcation and made a similar proposal for senior-level military talks last year. But Pyongyang has not responded to the proposal.

The UNC, which has legal jurisdiction on MDL management under the armistice, has shared the need to clarify the MDL baseline and reportedly conveyed its position to Pyongyang in the past.

Seoul informed the UNC of its plan to offer the military talks ahead of Friday's announcement, a defense ministry official told reporters.

"We did that prior (to the announcement), in accordance with protocol," he said, without elaborating further.

In a statement issued shortly after the announcement, the UNC reaffirmed its commitment to upholding the Armistice Agreement, and "reducing the risk of miscalculation and unintended escalation" along the MDL.

The UNC, however, declined to confirm whether it has reached the North Korean side about the South's dialogue offer, saying it does not publicly disclose its communication with Pyongyang.

The UNC maintains a hotline, known as the "pink phone," with the North's Korean People's Army, currently the only remaining communication channel between the two Koreas after Pyongyang severed all ties with Seoul.

elly@yna.co.kr
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