N. Korea removed thousands of mines for excavation of war remains

By Lim Chang-won Posted : November 12, 2018, 16:15 Updated : November 12, 2018, 16:15

A file picture shows South Korean soldiers being mobilized for an operation to remove mines inside the demilitarized zone.[Yonhap News Photo]


SEOUL -- In a risky operation that followed an inter-Korean summit in September, North Korea has removed thousands of landmines to clear the roads for a joint project to excavate war remains buried in a 1953 battlefield in the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the South's defense chief said.

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said at a parliamentary committee Monday that 3,836 mines have been removed as of October 26 on the North Korean side of an excavation site in the DMZ, a four-kilometer-wide strip of land that has divided the Korean peninsula since an armistice accord ended the three-year conflict in 1953.

In the same area in the northern border town of Cheorwon, South Korea has removed 20 mines and 300 unspecified explosives, Jeong said. The area has been considered a key invasion route and blocked by giant concrete walls set up along the southern perimeter of the DMZ.

The joint excavation of war remains will be staged in Hill 281 (Arrowhead), a site of intense battles in 1953 for dominant and strategic hilltop positions. The defense ministry said hundreds of soldiers from South Korea, the U.S. and France were buried in the hill. Chinese soldiers fought for North Korea.

The operation to remove mines began on October 1 in two border areas -- one in Cheorwon and the other in the truce village of Panmunjom. The DMZ has been heavily fortified with minefields, guard posts, concrete walls and electric fences. At a summit in Pyongyang in September, the two Korean agreed to disarm the Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom, disarm 11 DMZ guard posts on a trial basis and conduct a joint excavation of soldiers killed during the war.

The White House wants the full excavation of some 5,300 American soldiers known to be killed and buried on the northern part of the Korean peninsula. From 1990 to 2006, Pyongyang returned hundreds of remains in return for financial compensation in a joint project with U.S. officials.

To remove the risk of war, the two Koreas stopped all hostile activities including artillery drills and field maneuvers on November 1 by setting up maritime, air and ground buffer zones in front-line areas. 

On Monday, military engineers using construction equipment started tearing down 20 entrenched DMZ guard posts in a pilot project. For historical preservation, two posts of symbolic or political significance were kept intact.
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