SEOUL: International troops stationed on the South Korean side of the truce village of Panmunjom on the border with North Korea who had been unarmed can resume carrying guns, the United Nations Command (UNC) said on Tuesday (Dec 19).
The US-led UNC is a multinational military force and oversees affairs in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war.
Panmunjom, which has been a popular tourist destination, is known formally as the Joint Security Area (JSA) – a cluster of buildings that has hosted inter-Korean talks and where troops from both sides stand almost face to face.
The decision this month to allow UNC troops to carry guns came after North Korean soldiers of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) had resumed “an armed security posture” in the area, said Colonel Isaac Taylor, the spokesperson for the UNC.
Taylor said the move was aimed at protecting both civilian and military personnel in the border area.
“This action is being taken out of an abundance of caution, but UNC has also informed the ROK (South Korea) government and KPA of its position that a disarmed JSA is safer and more peaceful for the Korean Peninsula,” Taylor said.
Source: CNA
