Two Koreas Define Military Demarcation Line Differently as Military Talks Remain Elusive

[Anchor]

A recent landmine explosion on the western front has brought renewed attention to the Military Demarcation Line within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Because the two Koreas define their standards differently, there are several locations where the actual boundary line remains unclear. Reporter Choi Jae-yeong examines the issue.

[Reporter]

The South Korean military and the United Nations Command assessed the site of the landmine explosion to be roughly 10 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line.

North Korea, however, claims that it has "never crossed the border even once."

This response appears to exploit the fact that the Military Demarcation Line is not clearly marked by physical barriers such as barbed-wire fences.

This is a map attached to the 1953 Armistice Agreement.

The Military Demarcation Line, as well as the Southern Limit Line and the Northern Limit Line, are each indicated by lines.

Following the signing of the agreement, the UN Command and the North Korean military erected 1,292 marker signs across a 240-kilometer stretch to physically mark the Military Demarcation Line on the ground.

The signs, measuring 76 centimeters wide and 50 centimeters high, were placed at intervals of less than 500 meters.

However, in 1973, a South Korean soldier carrying out maintenance work on the markers was killed by North Korean gunfire, bringing the maintenance work to a halt.

Later, in 2014, the UN Command conducted an inspection of the status of the markers, and the then-secretary of the UN Command Military Armistice Commission noted in a contributed piece that "less than 15% remained visually identifiable."

The South Korean military also estimates a similar figure, noting that only around 200 markers remain.

Because so few markers serving as the "standard" for the Military Demarcation Line are left, discrepancies have arisen as the South Korean military, the North Korean military, and the UN Command each use different methods to plot and reconstruct the lines between markers on maps.

Even between the South Korean military and the UN Command, the location of the demarcation line differs across as much as 60% of the entire section.

[Jeon In-bum / Former Commander, ROK Army Special Warfare Command: "(The DMZ) has rugged terrain interspersed with valleys and mountain peaks, and because of the four distinct seasons, it is extremely difficult to distinguish terrain features."]

In particular, as issues surrounding the Military Demarcation Line have intensified due to North Korea's "border fortification work" underway since 2024, the South Korean military proposed military talks to the North last year to discuss establishing standard baselines for the demarcation line.

However, North Korea has not responded to the proposal and has crossed the Military Demarcation Line dozens of times this year alone, raising deep concerns that clashes could break out at any moment.

Video by Lee Byung-joo, Kang Dong-chul | Video Editing by Won Hyung-hee | Design by Seo Seung-hyun, Choi Jae-yeong
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.