South Korea’s military on Monday proposed talks with North Korea to prevent accidental clashes along the tense border, citing repeated incursions by North Korean troops.
“To prevent accidental clashes and ease military tensions, our military officially proposes that the two sides hold inter-Korean military talks to discuss the establishment of a clear reference line for the Military Demarcation Line (MDL),” said Kim Hong-cheol, South Korea’s deputy minister for national defence policy, at a news briefing.
Kim said North Korean soldiers have repeatedly crossed the MDL while installing tactical roads, fences, and laying mines. In response, South Korean troops fired warning shots and broadcast messages urging the North Koreans to retreat.
The incursions, according to Kim, are linked to “the loss of many MDL markers” that were installed under the 1953 Armistice Agreement that ended active fighting in the Korean War.
He emphasized that Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war, as no peace treaty has ever been signed.
The MDL runs through the four-kilometre-wide Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), stretching 250 kilometres (160 miles) across the Korean peninsula.
The proposed military talks follow South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s recent offer of broader discussions with North Korea without preconditions—a significant departure from the hardline stance of his conservative predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol.
Since taking office in June, Lee has taken several measures to reduce military tensions with the nuclear-armed North, including removing propaganda loudspeakers along the border and banning the release of anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
Pyongyang has yet to respond to Lee’s overtures. Under Yoon’s administration, inter-Korean relations had deteriorated to their lowest point in years, partly due to North Korea’s growing closeness to Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Last year, the two Koreas engaged in a tit-for-tat propaganda battle, with the North sending thousands of trash-filled balloons south in retaliation for balloons launched by South Korean activists.
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