SEOUL (Reuters) – The United Nations Command (UNC) announced on Tuesday that international troops stationed on the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom, on the border with North Korea, can resume carrying guns. The US-led UNC oversees affairs in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, which have remained technically at war.
Panmunjom, also known as the Joint Security Area (JSA), has been a popular tourist destination and has hosted inter-Korean talks. The decision to allow UNC troops to carry guns was made in response to North Korean soldiers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) resuming “an armed security posture” in the area, according to Colonel Isaac Taylor, the spokesperson for the UNC.
The move to allow guns is aimed at protecting both civilian and military personnel in the border area. However, the UNC has also informed the South Korean government and KPA of its position that a disarmed JSA is safer and more peaceful for the Korean Peninsula, Taylor said.
In 2018, the two Koreas agreed not to arm their troops on the JSA, but North Korean troops have been reported to be carrying guns since November after a partial unravelling of the agreement. South Korea suspended part of the pact last month in protest of Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite. In response, North Korea scrapped the accord and pledged to deploy stronger armed forces and new weapons on the border.
Visiting the DMZ has been a popular activity for tourists looking to get a glimpse of the reclusive authoritarian state, but the trips to the JSA were suspended after a U.S. soldier crossed the border in July. Some JSA tours restarted last month, but media reports said they had been suspended again due to increased tensions with the North. (Reporting by Hyunsu Yim and Josh Smith; Editing by Ed Davies and Gerry Doyle)
