Page 5 - 2020 Defence White Paper

ROK citizens’ desire to establish lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula over the past 70 years, relentless
efforts of previous administrations to realize such goal, and the strong readiness posture of the ROK
Armed Forces to support with strength.

2. Key Achievements

| Cessation of Mutual Hostilities | The implementation of measures by the two Koreas to cease all
mutual hostilities in the contact areas on the ground, at sea, and in the air to prevent accidental clashes
could be acknowledged as the biggest achievement of the CMA.
Both sides created a buffer zone stretched over 10km on the ground (5km north and south from the
MDL) to pave the way for reducing military tensions, and have agreed to suspend all artillery firing and
field training exercises of regiment-level or higher units in the buffer zone so as to fundamentally eliminate
the risk of any accidental clashes along the MDL.
The North Korean military had previously continued to conduct multiple artillery firing and field training
exercises within 5km of the MDL, but none of them have been carried out after the CMA. In addition,
after the conclusion of the CMA, no military tension arose in the DMZ, where more than hundreds of
shootings and shelling provocations had occurred, except for the shooting at the ROK GP in the central
front in May 2020 .
1)
To preclude any possibility of armed conflicts at sea, the two Koreas designated the area surrounding
the NLL as a maritime buffer zone to prohibit artillery firing and marine training exercises within the area,
and agreed to specific measures such as the installation of covers over muzzles and gun barrels as well
as closure of gunports.
The North Korean military had previously con-
ducted countless live-fire exercises in the mari-
time buffer zone. After the CMA, however, like
the ROK Armed Forces, it has not carried out any
live-fire or marine training exercises in the buffer
zone except for the coastal artillery firing drill off
2)
the coast of Changlin Island in November 2019
and has not conducted military provocations to Lighthouse on Yeonpyeong Island lit up for the first time in
45 years
date with no North Korean naval ships intruding

1) The ROK Armed Forces regarded this incident as a clear violation of the CMA and expressed its concern, urging North
Korea to immediately suspend its act through a notice in the name of ROK’s senior representative to the inter-Korean
general officer-level military talks.
2) The ROK Armed Forces regarded the incident as a clear violation of the CMA and expressed its concern, strongly urging
North Korea to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.

Appendix