Page 296 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Joint Declaration,’ 3) which includes practical measures to expand and advance relations between

the two Koreas based on trust built through the implementation of the ‘Panmunjom Declaration.’

| Efforts by The ROK Armed Forces |

By maintaining a robust security posture
based on strong defense capabilities, the
ROK Armed Forces provides military

support for the ROK government’s current
North Korea policy initiatives such as inter-
Korean summits and the adoption of the

‘Panmunjom Declaration.’ In line with
th
8 Inter-Korean General Officer-level Military Talks
the ROK government’s efforts toward the (June 2018)
advancement of inter-Korean relations, the
MND is undertaking active efforts to ease inter-Korean military tensions and build conf idence.

Following the announcement of the Berlin Initiative on July 17, 2017, the MND publicly proposed
“Inter-Korean military talks” to cease hostile acts around the Military Demarcation Line (MDL).

Although North Korea did not accept immediately, around the time of the inter-Korean summit in
April 2018, both sides ceased the use of loudspeakers within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and
dismantled them in a symbolic gesture to end hostile acts against each other. 4)
The Panmunjom Declaration signed by the leaders of both sides includes a series of substantive

measures to alleviate military tensions and reduce the threat of war. They include: ceasing all
hostile acts against each other; transformation of the DMZ into a peace zone; establishment of a
maritime peace zone and preventing accidental military clashes in the areas around the Northern

Limit Line (NLL) in the West Sea; and regularly holding inter-Korean military talks. In order to

3) A joint declaration adopted between President Moon and State Affairs
Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un at the inter-Korean summit in
Pyongyang on September 18–20, 2018, stressing the need for a
thorough implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration, and that
contains various practical methods of implementation.
4) As of 12:00 a.m. on April 23, 2018, the MND suspended propaganda
broadcasts in the DMZ, and between May 1 and 4, dismantled the Military Agreement for Inter-Korean general
loudspeakers. North Korea also ceased broadcasts from April 24, and the Implementation of the officer-level military
Historical Panmunjom talk resumed in
dismantled on May 1 and 2. Declaration adopted 11 years

294 Chapter 7 Military Assurance for the Establishment of a Peace Regime on the Korean Peninsula