2 Koreas Talk About Implementing Recent Military Agreement

Seoul, Oct 26 (AP) North and South Korea held military talks on their border on Friday to discuss implementing a broad-reaching military agreement last month to reduce tensions.

South Korean Major Gen Kim Do-gyun before the meeting at Panmunjom said the discussions will include establishing a joint military committee that's meant to maintain communication and avoid crises and accidental clashes.

The planned committee is one of many inter-Korean commitments spelled out in the military agreement that was reached on the sidelines of a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month in Pyongyang.

The talks came a day after the Koreas and the US-led UN Command completed removing firearms and troops from a jointly controlled area at the border village.

The Koreas have also been clearing mines from front-line areas and plan to conduct their first-ever joint search for remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

South Korea on Thursday had confirmed its soldiers had found war remains in a different front-line area.

The Koreas have also agreed to create buffer zones along their land and sea boundaries, as well as a no-fly zone above the border, and remove 11 front-line guard posts by December.

Moon has described the military agreement as an important trust-building step that will reduce border tensions and create more space for larger US-led negotiations to denuclearise the North.

Some experts say the South risks conceding its conventional military strength before the North takes any concrete steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons.(AP) RUP

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