North Korea destroys 10 border guard posts

By Zehra Ulucak and Rabia Iclal Turan

ANKARA, Turkey

North Korea on Tuesday destroyed 10 guard posts in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Tuesday, citing government sources.

Seoul’s Defense Ministry said that the explosion, which was carried out at around 3 p.m. local time (0600GMT) after the North notified the South on Sunday, was part of an inter-Korean agreement to reduce tensions and prevent accidental clashes.

The two countries will each explode 10 guard posts while keeping one with historical value, according to the agreement.

The pullout is part of a military agreement, the Koreas accepted in September, that includes conventional arms control measures as well as a series of confidence-building.

Disarming the joint security area in the DMZ, conducting a joint project to excavate Korean War troops in the border region, and setting up air, maritime and ground buffer zones are also included in the agreement.

On April 27, South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean president Kim Jong-un held a historic summit followed by signing of the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, which has become a formal foundation of further denuclearization of North Korea and a peace deal between the two countries.

The two leaders had a second meeting on May 26 where they talked about lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.

In September, the two leaders agreed on decreasing tensions and made a joint statement in Pyongyang.