ROK seeks test withdrawal of guard post forces from border with DPRK

SEOUL -- Republic of Korea's (ROK) military was pushing for a test withdrawal of guard post forces from border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as part of efforts to implement the Panmunjom Declaration, which the leaders of the two Koreas signed in April.

It was mentioned in the Defense Ministry's policy briefing to the National Assembly's defense committee, according to Yonhap on Tuesday.

The ministry said it will push for the test withdrawal of guard post soldiers and equipment from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a heavily armed zone separating the two Koreas, to enforce the Panmunjom Declaration in which the leaders of the two sides agreed to stop all hostile acts and reduce tension.

ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un held their first summit meeting on April 27 at the border village of Panmunjom, agreeing to transform the DMZ into a peace zone.

The ministry said it was seeking a plan to expand the withdrawal in stages, noting that it would push for full-scale pullout in sync with the survey of historical remains and ecological features in the zone following the test withdrawal.

As part of efforts to transform the DMZ into a peace zone, the ministry said it was pushing to demilitarize the Joint Security Area of Panmunjom in order to reduce guard personnel and firearms and restore free coming and going in the zone.

The ministry said it will push for the phased transformation of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), which has served as a de-facto inter-Korean sea boundary, into a maritime peace zone.

The DPRK has denied the NLL as a maritime border as it was unilaterally drawn by the US-led UN Command after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with armistice.