It has been confirmed that South Korean military authorities have formed a task force with the United Nations Command (UNC) and have been holding discussions since early this year to resolve discrepancies over the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) among South Korea, North Korea, and the UNC, which have been cited as a source of instability in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Woo Kyung-seok, Director General for Policy Planning at the Ministry of National Defense, said at a regular briefing today (October 6), "Because we can only address matters involving North Korea after the UNC and the South Korean military first align our MDLs, the Joint Chiefs of Staff has been operating a task force since early this year and is discussing this closely with the UNC."

The Ministry of National Defense proposed military talks to North Korea in November last year to discuss the MDL baseline issue.

Although North Korea did not respond, officials explained that they subsequently formed the task force and have been holding consultations to first resolve the difference in MDL perception between the South Korean military and the UNC.

However, the South Korean government does not take the position that South Korea and the UNC must align the MDL first as an absolute prerequisite before proposing military talks on this issue to North Korea again.

Director General Woo said, "While we naturally believe it would be more efficient to hold military talks (with North Korea) after the UNC and our military align the MDL, we do not consider it an absolute prerequisite."

He explained, "We believe inter-Korean military talks are necessary to resolve the fundamental issues (stemming from the MDL discrepancy), and we plan to pursue them in the future after comprehensively assessing various security factors, including specific timing."

When the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953, 1,292 marker signs were installed on the actual terrain along the line indicated on military maps, but many have been lost, leaving only about 200 markers currently identifiable.

The South Korean military uses the MDL on military maps established in 2004 by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, whereas the UNC uses an MDL connecting coordinates generated through its own "MDL Project" in 2016, causing discrepancies.

The military presumes that the North Korean military uses its own MDL based on connecting lines between the markers and other reference points.

Meanwhile, the military and the UNC are also conducting a special investigation to identify several minefields suspected of having been laid by North Korea south of the MDL.

Director General Woo said, "We are conducting a special investigation with the UNC and will continue to take necessary measures through close consultations and investigations."

Attention is also focusing on whether the government and the UNC can narrow their differences over whether North Korea's border fortification work, which has been underway since 2024, constitutes a violation of the Armistice Agreement.

The South Korean government views North Korea's efforts to turn the MDL into a border as a violation of the Armistice Agreement, arguing that it effectively neutralizes the buffer zone specified in the agreement, but the UNC has maintained the view that activities taking place north of the MDL do not violate the Armistice Agreement.

(Photo courtesy of JCS, Yonhap News)