S.Korea, USFK Seeking Way for Inter-Korean Area in DMZSouth Korea and the United States Forces Korea (USFK) are discussing how to designate a part of Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for an inter-Korean area that Seoul and Pyongyang can jointly manage, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.The area is needed for reconstruction of the railway line from Seoul to Shinuiju in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and a parallel road. The entire DMZ is wholly under the control of the USFK in accordance with the 1953 armistice agreement. Both Seoul and Pyongyang are looking for a way to allow them to efficiently manage the construction project without violating the agreement, the ministry said. The USFK made it clear late last month that the reconstruction work on the railway and the road should be completed within the framework of the cease-fire treaty, and the South expressed a willingness to comply with it. At the historic inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang on June 13-15, South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and DPRK leader Kim Jong Il agreed to relink the railway within one year, which was severed before the 1950-53 Korean War. |
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