Smoke from an explosion rises as part of the dismantling of a South Korean guard post in DMZ,as a North Korean guard post sits high in the upper left. 2018.11 (AP)
North Korean soldiers install their guard posts in the DMZ. 2024.1 (AP)
North Korea is restoring front-line guard posts that it had dismantled during a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, South Korea’s military said Monday, after animosities spiked between the rivals over the North’s recent spy satellite launch.
The two Koreas previously dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside their heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone, under a 2018 deal meant to ease front-line military confrontations. However, the current state of this deal is precarious. Both Koreas have openly threatened to breach it, which could potentially lead to a complete breakdown of the agreement and a return to heightened tensions.
The 2018 agreement required the two Koreas to halt aerial surveillance and live-fire exercises at no-fly and buffer zones that they established along the DMZ, remove some of their front-line guard posts and land mines, and leave South Korea with 50 board guard posts and North Korea with 150.