S. Korea temporarily halts war remains recovery project in DMZ

Inter-Korean Summit 14:12 June 17, 2020

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- The military temporarily suspended a war remains excavation project in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, the defense ministry said Wednesday, following the North's threats to take military action against the South in anger over anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns.

Under a bilateral military accord signed on Sept. 19, 2018, South and North Korea agreed to launch a joint excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge inside the DMZ, but the South has carried out the project alone as the North did not respond to calls for joint work. The ridge located in Cheorwon, some 90 kilometers northeast of Seoul, was one of the fiercest battlefields during the 1950-53 Korean War.

On Tuesday, the North blew up an inter-Korean liaison office in the western border town of Kaesong, sharply escalating tensions between the two sides.

The North is now threatening to scrap the military deal altogether, unveiling its plan to redeploy troops to an inter-Korean industrial park in Kaesong and the Mount Kumgang joint tourist zone on the east coast.

The North also said it will restore guard posts removed from the DMZ and resume all kinds of regular military exercises near the inter-Korean border in violation of the military agreement with the South.

"We will decide when to resume the work considering the current situation," a military official said.