North, South Korea to halt military drills in border area

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Seoul and Pyongyang will stop field training exercises and artillery drills in the border area as part of an agreement to ease military tension on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to create buffer zones in the land and sea borders and stop military exercises in the areas.

South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and North Korean First Vice Minister of the Ministry of the People's Armed Forces No Kwag-chol signed the military agreement, aimed at reducing cross-border military tensions, on the sideline of the summit between Moon and Kim on Wednesday.

The North and South Korean militaries agreed to withdraw guard posts in the Demilitarized Zone completely. They will start pulling out soldiers and military resources at 11 posts closely located to each other in the border area until the end of the year.

They will also conduct a joint excavation of remains of soldiers who died in the DMZ in the 1950-53 Korean War, as well as removing landmines and explosives in the border area.

The North and South agreed at the first summit this year to turn the heavily guarded border area into a peaceful ground.

The two sides also plan to create a three-party committee, comprised of South and North Korean forces and the U.N. Command, to demilitarize the heavily guarded Joint Security Area at the border village of Panmunjom, a venue for the first and second inter-Korean summits in April and May.