Category: DMZ

It will be interesting to see if the Poles return to the DMZ, this time on the Southern side:

Poland, once a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC), could re-establish its presence in the demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula if asked to do so by its counterparts, said Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz during his recent visit to Seoul. 

“At this moment the Polish mission is unable to implement its mandate in its initial location north of the 38th parallel, because after the political transformation established in Europe in 1989, the DPRK expelled Poland from the DMZ,” Minister Czaputowicz told the Korea JoongAng Daily on Monday, during his visit to meet with his counterpart South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, using the acronyms for North Korea’s official name, which is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and DMZ for the demilitarized zone, located between the two Koreas. 

As Poland already has an embassy in Pyongyang, established in 1950, the minister was speaking of the presence the Polish government had in the demilitarized zone as a member of the NNSC, from 1953 to 1995. North Korea expelled the Polish presence in 1995 following the collapse of communism in Poland and its joining of NATO in 1989.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the efforts to stop the spread of swine flu in South Korea:

South Korea is using helicopters to disinfect the border area to combat the spread of African swine fever (ASF) after it found a wild boar carcass infected with the deadly virus in the demilitarized zone.

According to the Ministry of National Defense, the government has started to disinfect the entire border area north of the civilian-restricted zone, starting with the DMZ in Yeoncheon County, Gyeonggi on Friday, where the infected wild animal was found.

It notified North Korea of the measures and is conducting fumigation with approval from the United Nations Command. Seven fumigation helicopters from the Korea Forest Service will disinfect the area over the next seven days with soil disinfectants such as quicklime. 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

The ROK Minister of Unification, Kim Yeon-Chul, & distinguished guests visited the Joint Security Area, hosted by UNC Deputy Commander, Vice Admiral Stuart Mayer. The visit included additional stops in the DMZ & a tour of the Paju Peace Trail which officially opens today. pic.twitter.com/uUlxV5BWuA

— United Nations Command (@UN_Command) August 9, 2019

Whatever you say:

 An unidentified object detected on military radars flying near the border with North Korea turned out to be a flock of birds, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday, after the detection prompted fighter jets to scramble.

Earlier in the day, the JCS said that the military “is checking and taking measures after the military radar captured an unidentified object in the sky above the Demilitarized Zone in the central portion of the inter-Korean border in Gangwon Province at around 1 p.m.

The object was found some 4.5 kilometers above the ground, inside the no-fly zone that the two Koreas set up along the border under the inter-Korean military agreement signed in September last year, according to a JCS officer.

“Upon spotting that, the military deployed several jets in response, which later confirmed that the trace was made by around 20 birds, which were presumed to be wild geese,” the officer said. 

While scrambling the jets, the South Korean military sent a notification to North Korea via the inter-Korean military communication channel in accordance with the military pact in order to prevent any accidental clashes, he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have heard of doppler radar picking up geese, but you would think the ROK would have more sensors to detect aircraft than just a doppler radar.

If Kim Jong-un does meet with President Trump at the DMZ, it seems that should be taken as a sign that the regime believes a deal to reopen the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Kumgang Tours is a real possibility. Meeting with the President at the DMZ would be a perfect opportunity for Kim to make his case for reopening the complex directly to the U.S. President:

U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he expects to have a “really interesting” visit to the inter-Korean border amid keen attention on the possibility of his meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un there.

He was speaking to pool reporters just before joining a welcome dinner hosted by President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook at Cheong Wa Dae, Seoul’s presidential office, shortly after his arrival in South Korea.

On a potential three-way summit between the two Koreas and the U.S. during his tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on Sunday, Trump said, “We’re gonna see. We are working things out right now.”

When a reporter asked him about whether he has “heard anything” from North Korea, he said, “We have. Yes.” He did not elaborate.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The Stars & Stripes had a reporter check out a recently opened DMZ hiking trail:

The U.S.-led United Nations Command, which oversees activities in the DMZ, has approved plans for three trails in the DMZ.

So far, only the one in Goseong, which sits in the section that snakes north of the 38th parallel and features a view of North Korea’s famous Mount Kumgang, has begun accepting visitors.

Groups of about 20 tourists at a time, escorted by soldiers, walk along a coastal path marked by two rows of tall barbed wire fences cutting off the beach. Signs warn of land mines on the other side.

On Friday, the guide Park Jeung Hey rattled off the names of trees and flowers and historical tidbits. Her charges were delighted when a deer appeared nearby before retreating into the trees.

Park noted abandoned railroad tracks along the route. “You might imagine that you might use this road and the railway to visit Mount Kumgang in the near future,” she said. (……….)

So far, only the one in Goseong, which sits in the section that snakes north of the 38th parallel and features a view of North Korea’s famous Mount Kumgang, has begun accepting visitors.

Groups of about 20 tourists at a time, escorted by soldiers, walk along a coastal path marked by two rows of tall barbed wire fences cutting off the beach. Signs warn of land mines on the other side. (………)

The trail consists of two courses — one by foot and the other by vehicle — and ends at a barricaded gate that has been used in the past by travelers to North Korea’s famous Mount Kumgang for reunions of families who had been separated by the war.

A sign declared it to be the northernmost point of South Korea.

Lee Saet-Byeol of the Goseong district office said more than 4,300 people have participated in the tours since they began on April 27, coinciding with the first anniversary of the first summit between Moon and Kim.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

Here is yet another opportunity to hike along the DMZ that is about to open:

The second inter-Korean border trail along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that demarcates South and North Korea will be opened to civilian hikers next month, officials said Monday.

The central section of the DMZ in Cheorwon, Gangwon, will be opened for the government-initiated DMZ Peace Trail program on June 1, the officials said.

The first DMZ Peace Trail was launched in an eastern coastal section in Goseong, Gangwon, on April 27, drawing hundreds of hikers to its scenic seaside routes over six days each week, with the trail closed on Mondays. Civilian hikers’ access to the Cheorwon DMZ Peace Trail zone was approved by the United Nations Command (UNC) on May 8. (……)

Hikers will begin their trek from the Monument for the Baekma (White Horse) Plateau Battle and walk or take a ride along the DMZ southern boundary before arriving at an Arrowhead Hill guard post. It will be the first time since the division of the Korean Peninsula that a guard post within the DMZ will be open to civilians.

On Arrowhead Hill, hikers can also watch the military’s excavation work for war remains, the officials added. As part of efforts to better guarantee visitors’ safety, South Korea recently notified North Korea of the tour program, according to Defense Ministry officials.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I am very suspicious of this story because I find it hard to believe there is a population of Asiatic black bears living in a stretch of land 4 kilometers wide. This just seems very convenient when the Moon administration has been pushing to turn the DMZ into a so called “Eco-Peace Park“:

A rare Asiatic black bear cub has been photographed while crossing a stream in the Demilitarized Zone, highlighting the heavily fortified Korean border area’s role as a unique haven for wildlife.
The photo of the bear, which was captured by a motion-sensor camera in October, emerged as the fate of the DMZ is in question amid efforts to improve relations between the two Koreas and persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons.
The 2.5-mile wide, 155-mile long strip of land has been largely a no-go zone for more than six decades due to land mines and barbed wire-lined fences in place since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice instead of a peace treaty.
Untouched by development, animals and plants have thrived with little human contact in the protected ecosystem that includes wetlands, forests, mountains and coastlines.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but I wonder if this bear is a cub from bears reintroduced into the wild in South Korea and wandered into the DMZ from another area in Gangwon-do.

For anyone looking to take a tour of the JSA, the popular tours will restart this week:

Tours to the southern side of the truce village of Panmunjom will resume this week and visitors will be allowed to explore an expanded area, the South Korean defense ministry said Monday.
The popular tours to the Joint Security Area, which straddles the heavily fortified border, were suspended in October to facilitate efforts to demilitarize the buffer zone.
North and South Korea agreed during their historic April 27, 2018, summit in Panmunjom to allow visitors freedom of movement within the JSA from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
That plan has been delayed because the U.S.-led United Nations Command, which oversees the area, and the two Koreas have not agreed on a joint code of conduct deemed necessary for security purposes.
South Korea decided “to resume field trips on the southern side” beginning Wednesday to mark the summit’s first anniversary, according to the defense ministry.
Past tours, which local officials have said drew some 100,000 visitors per year, were tightly controlled.
Visitors will now get to see more sites than had been previously allowed, including the blue footbridge where South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had a private chat and the pine tree that was planted to commemorate the meeting.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

If tensions are so reduced as claimed by the Moon administration, then why the need for security for people hiking these trails?:

Anchor: South Korea will open a series of hiking trails leading to the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), the heavily-fortified border that separates the two Koreas. The move comes as part of ongoing efforts to reduce inter-Korean tensions, and precedes government plans to establish a peace park in the border region.
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report: The South Korean government will establish three public hiking trails adjacent to the demilitarized zone(DMZ) beginning this month.

The interior, tourism, unification, environment and defense ministries on Wednesday held a joint news conference to announce the plan.

[Sound bite: Kim Hyun-ki – bureau chief, Ministry of the Interior and Safety (Korean)]
“The opening of the trails demonstrate the reduced military tensions on the Korean Peninsula following the September 19th military accord [of the inter-Korean summit last year].” 
“Visitors will be thoroughly protected by our military under tight safety guarantees.” 

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link, but I think hikers interested in these trails better hurry up and check them out before North Korea decides to start yet another provocation cycle.