North Korean troops build a road near the Demilitarized Zone in this undated photo provided by the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff on June 18, 2024. (South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff)
CAMP HUMPREYS, South Korea — The United Nations Command reasserted its authority over the border between North and South Korea amid a series of recent border crossings from the North.
Tensions remain high at the Demilitarized Zone, the 160-mile-long, highly-fortified corridor that surrounds the border.
South Korean troops in October fired warning shots at 20 armed North Korean soldiers that temporarily crossed the military demarcation line. A similar incident involving 30 North Koreans occurred in August.
“The United Nations Command reaffirms its commitment to maintaining the Armistice Agreement, including the MDL (military demarcation line), and to supporting measures that prevent escalation and promote stability within the Demilitarized Zone,” the U.N. Command said in a statement emailed Monday by spokeswoman Song Ho Chong.
The command provides security on South Korea’s side of the DMZ and investigates potential violations of the armistice that paused hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Since 2024, the South’s military has relied on markers in the DMZ when responding to North Korean armistice violations and to avoid accidental clashes, said Col. Lee Sung-jun, a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, at a Dec. 22 press briefing.
“In areas where markers are not clearly identifiable, responses are based on a comprehensive assessment of military maps and the (U.N. Command’s military demarcation line) marker coordinates,” he said.
Critics claim the South’s military relies on a line south of the actual border when determining whether a crossing has occurred, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday. That gives an edge to North Korea, according to the report.
For example, South Korea’s conservative People Power Party chief spokesman Park Sung-hoon, in a Dec. 22 statement, characterized the border move as ceding territory to North Korea.
In cases where the South Korean military’s map of the border differs from the U.N. Command’s reference line, the military has been using the southernmost line, he said.
“This measure has pushed the Military Demarcation Line back by tens of meters in some places, inevitably creating significant chaos and a security vacuum on the front lines,” he said.
The U.S.-led U.N. Command recognizes the line established in the Korean Armistice Agreement and depicted on a map on July 27, 1953, according to Song’s email.
Matters relating to the DMZ require consultation with the U.N. Command, Chung Bin-na, spokeswoman for the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, said at a Dec. 18 press briefing.
