Page 297 - 2018 Defense White Paper

uphold the military commitments made in the ‘Panmunjom Declaration,’ the military authorities

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of South and North Korea met on June 14, 2018, for the “8 Inter-Korean General Of f icer-
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level Military Talks.” Consequently, the two sides agreed to restore the “June 4 Agreement” 5)
on the prevention of accidental naval clashes in the West Sea, and agreed to fully restore the

military communication lines in the Eastern and Western transportation corridors. Following
this, the international vessel communication network, which had been out of use in the West
Sea since May 2008, was normalized and became fully functional in July 1, 2018. Moreover, the

military communication lines in the Western and Eastern transportation corridors were also fully
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restored, as of July 16 and August 15, respectively. On July 31, 2018, the “9 Inter-Korean General
Off icer-level Military Talks” was held to further discuss the implementation of the ‘Panmunjom

Declaration’ in the military domain. The military authorities of both sides reached accord on
the basic framework for the implementation plan for issues such as: transformation of the DMZ
into a peace zone; establishment of a maritime peace zone around the NLL in the West Sea; and,
providing military assurance for inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. The two sides decided

to further discuss the concrete timeframe and the detailed method of implementation.
The military authorities of South and North Korea exchanged several drafts of an agreement that

contains realistic measures to implement the ‘Panmunjom Declaration’ in the military domain. On
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September 13, 2018, the draft of the agreement was fine-tuned at the 40 Inter-Korean Working-level
Military Talks. And f inally, on September 19, 2018, in the presence of both summits, the defense
ministers of South and North Korea signed the ‘Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic

Panmunjom Declaration in the Military Domain’ (also known as the “Comprehensive Military
Agreement (CMA)”) as a supplementary agreement to the ‘Pyongyang Joint Declaration’. The CMA
contains effective measures to ease inter-Korean military tensions, build conf idence and reduce the

danger of war such as: cessation of all hostile acts against each other; withdrawal of Guard Posts
Chapter 7
(GP) within the DMZ; demilitarization of the Joint Security Area (JSA) in Panmunjom; pilot inter-

5) The Agreement on the Prevention of Accidental Naval Clashes in the West Sea, the
Cessation of Propaganda Activities at the Military Demarcation Line and the Elimination
of Propaganda Tools was adopted on June 4, 2004, during the 2nd inter-Korean General
Officer-level Military Talks. Provisions to prevent accidental naval clashes contained
in this Agreement include ˝the utilization of the international vessel communication
network, ˞establishing and using rules on signal flags and lights, ˟exchange of
information on illegal third country fishing boats, and ˠthe creation of a communication Demotion of GPs in the
North Korea side
liaison office in the West Sea. of DMZ

Section 1 Inter-Korean Military Confidence Building and Arms Control 295