Page 314 - 2020 Defence White Paper

Section

2 Military Assurance for Inter-
Korean Exchanges and

Cooperation and Resolution of

the ROK POW Issue

To invigorate inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation as agreed upon by the two
leaders in the Panmunjom Declaration and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration, the ROK
Armed Forces has been supporting the government’s efforts to guarantee security on
inter-Korean traffic on the ground, at sea, and in the air, and carry out military assurance
measures by utilizing military communication lines. Furthermore, with regard to
humanitarian assistance, the ROK Armed Forces is striving to solve the ROK POW issue
and support their settlement in the ROK.

1. Military Assurance for Inter-Korean Exchanges

Overview Through the Panmunjom Declaration and the Pyongyang Joint
Declaration, the two Koreas agreed to devise substantive measures
and military assurance measures to invigorate inter-Korean exchanges and
cooperation in a variety of fields and to encourage visits and contacts. To this end,
the two Koreas opened a joint liaison office in Kaesong and promoted inter-Korean

railway and road connections and modernization projects. However, North Korea
has refused to accept any inter-Korean talks since the collapse of the US–North
Korea summit in February 2019, unilaterally shutting down military communication
lines in June 2020 under the pretext that ROK civilian groups launched balloons
filled with propaganda leaflets over the DMZ to North Korea. The ROK Armed
Forces will continue to make preparations to provide immediate military support in
the event inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation resume in the future.

Military Assurance for Direct traffic between the two Koreas occurs mostly
Inter-Korean Traffic by ground, with sea and air routes used only occa-
sionally. Ground traffic has been carried out on
roads and railways in the Joint Administrative Areas in Transportation Corridors
East and West, but rail traffic has been suspended since December 2008. Most of the
ground traffic was carried out through Transportation Corridor West to enter the

312 2020 Defense White Paper