S. Korea stops building military facilities near DMZ
By Park Ji-won
South and North Korea are carrying out efforts to reduce military tensions as agreed in a historic joint declaration.
According to military sources, Sunday, South Korea suspended plans to build new military facilities at army bases near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), in apparent preparation for the case the facilities might never be used following phased disarmament.
"We have put on hold new construction plans for this year and next for 90 to 100 frontline army units classified as Alpha in the Forward Edge of the Battle Area (FEBA)," a senior military official said.
The plans were to build barracks and improve facilities for artillery camps. Construction projects that have already started will be carried out as planned.
FEBA includes four categories: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Alpha is the area located 5 kilometers to 10 kilometers from the DMZ inside the Civilian Control Line where search and artillery battalions and intelligence units are stationed.
Inter-Korean maritime communication back online 2018-07-01 13:19 | North Korea
The South Korean government's move is to reduce unnecessary military tension with North Korea and prevent possible superfluous costs if the facilities become unneeded amid continued thawing of inter-Korean relations.
The Panmunjeom Declaration, reached between the two Koreas on April 27, declared "South and North Korea agreed to carry out disarmament in a phased manner, as military tension is alleviated and substantial progress is made in military confidence-building."
"Discussion is going on internally about planned construction for military facilities in the frontline to preemptively prevent any waste of the military budget," an official from the Ministry of Defense said.
To endorse the declaration, the two Koreas have taken some measures to end the decades-old standoff.
At the beginning of May, South Korea dismantled anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeakers near its border with the North, and North Korea was known to have done the same.
South Korea and the U.S. decided to suspend the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) joint military exercises scheduled for August, which had taken place since the 1950s.
Pyongyang and Seoul also resumed ship-to-ship radio links, Sunday, to prevent accidental collisions at sea. Such radio communication took place for the first time in 10 years.
"South and North Korean militaries normalized the operation of sea communication lines to avoid unexpected collisions in the West Sea, endorsing the Panmunjeom Declaration and the agreements by the top military officials of the two Koreas," the defense ministry said.
In June 2004, the two Koreas agreed to use the same radio frequencies and visual signals for better communication at sea. On June 14 of that year, the two Koreas exchanged their first maritime communication in the West Sea. However, the North stopped replying to the South's calls in May 2008.