South Korea promotes DMZ 'peace zone' with new video
By
Elizabeth Shim
President Moon Jae-in (L) has promoted the Korean DMZ as a new "peace zone" before an international audience. File Photo by Yonhap
Nov. 6 (UPI) -- South Korea is promoting its militarized border with the North as an "international peace zone" amid stalled negotiations with Pyongyang.
A new promotional video, featuring President Moon Jae-in's speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September, will be made available on social media platforms and translated into English and Japanese, South Korean news service News 1 reported Wednesday.
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Moon's idea of conceptualizing the DMZ as a peace zone has an objective: provide substantial security guarantees to the North, so as to help advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, according to the report.
A source at the presidential Blue House in Seoul said the video was made without specific instructions from Moon. The footage of past summits and wildlife runs for about six minutes and is not yet available online. News 1 uploaded excerpts of the footage to YouTube on Wednesday.
South Korea is promoting peace at a time when analysts are warning of a possible collapse in diplomacy.
Joel Wit, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington, said in Seoul on Wednesday the U.S.-North Korea diplomatic process could collapse in 2020, unless President Donald Trump agrees to travel to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong Un, Yonhap reported.
Wit, a former U.S. State Department official, warned the road ahead for U.S.-North Korea relations could soon present challenges.
The analyst pointed out working-level talks between the two sides have failed. He criticized the North Koreans for not thoroughly preparing for talks, as the United States did in Sweden in October.
North Korea's provocations, including the tests of new weapons systems, have set neighbors on edge.
NHK reported Wednesday Tokyo is seeking the renewal of a military intelligence-sharing agreement with Seoul. South Korea has said it is not planning to renew GSOMIA at the end of November, citing disputes.
Moon and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently met to address concerns and mitigate tensions, but Tokyo said Wednesday it is not interested in removing trade restrictions, even if Seoul renews GSOMIA, according to the report.
A tourist hangs a message of peace on a "hope tree" along the DMZ Peace Trail. Visitors can hang plastic "leaves" with messages on the tree. One message, addressed to a father and grandfather, read: "Now that I'm at the DMZ, I'm hoping for reunification. Rest in peace." Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A group of tourists wait to start a tour of the Peace Trail. Roughly 20 tourists can visit on guided tours six days a week. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A mother takes a photo of her daughter on Mount Kumgang Observatory with North Korea in the background. Mount Kumgang was opened for about a decade to South Koreans, but access was shut down in 2008 after a tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean soldier there. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A heavily fortified gate blocks the road from the Peace Trail to Mount Kumgang in North Korea. An impasse in negotiations between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's nuclear program has kept international sanctions firmly in place, preventing most economic cooperation with the North. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A sign warns of mines on the trail, but tourists have been allowed to walk on a safe path since April. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A South Korean tourists stands next to a barbed wire fence on the DMZ Peace Trail in Goseong, South Korea. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
Soldiers walk alongside a barbed wire fence on the trail. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A South Korean soldier talks on the phone while accompanying a tour. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A surveillance camera sits atop a guard post at the DMZ Peace Trail. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A soldier prepares to help lead a tour. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A tour guide leads a group. The incredible biodiversity from the area is expected to eventually draw more visitors to the DMZ. The roughly 160 mile-long, 2.5 mile-wide buffer zone is home to some 5,097 species, according to South Korea's Ministry of Environment, including about 106 protected species. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
The DMZ Peace Trail runs along the East Coast of South Korea. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
Signs show the distance to various locations in South and North Korea. Destinations shown include Seoul and Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
A tour guide takes a photo of a South Korean couple at the Mount Kumgang Observatory. The group had just completed hiking along the DMZ Peace Trail. Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo
