22nd October, 2018
South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) agreed to hold general-grade military talks on Friday at the border village of Panmunjom, Seoul’s defense ministry said on Monday.
The general-level dialogue would start on Oct. 26 at Tongilgak, a DPRK building in Panmunjom, the ministry said in a statement.
The five-member military delegations from the two sides will discuss the implementation of the inter-Korean military agreement, which was signed by defence chiefs of the two Koreas during the Pyongyang summit in September.
The agreement was signed between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un at the summit.
They will also discuss ways to form a joint military committee, which would consult on military affairs between the two Koreas.
Under the military agreement in Pyongyang, the two sides agreed to stop all hostile acts in border areas by setting up a buffer zone along the heavily-armed inter-Korean border.
Similarly, South Korea, DPRK and the UN Command held the second consultation on Monday on disarming the Joint
Security Area (JSA) in the inter-Korean border area, Seoul’s defence ministry said.
The closed-door consultation started held in the Freedom House, a building controlled by South Korea in the border village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).
The first one was held on Oct. 16.
The consultation was made to discuss the disarmament of the JSA, which was agreed upon by defence chiefs of the South and the DPRK during the Pyongyang summit in September.
Soldiers from the South and the DPRK conducted a 20-day operation to remove landmines inside the JSA from Oct. 1.
The JSA was set up right after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice.
The planned to withdraw troops, firearms and guard posts from the JSA.
After the disarmament, South Korea and the DPRK would station a patrol of 35 soldiers each, including five officers, with no weapon inside the JSA.