Two Koreas, U.N. Command to hold first meeting on demilitarizing border

Thomson Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea, South Korea and the United Nations Command will hold their first three-way meeting on Tuesday to discuss demilitarizing the border between the two Koreas, South Korea's defense ministry said.

The leaders of the two Koreas last month endorsed a military pact that includes halting military exercises, a no-fly zone near their border and the gradual removal of landmines and guard posts within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

Tuesday's meeting will evaluate progress in removing landmines and guard posts, adjustments to border surveillance equipment, and ways to mutually verify demilitarization efforts, said Yonhap news agency, quoting ministry officials.

The closed-door meeting will be held at the border village of Panmunjom and attended by three representatives from each side, the ministry said in a statement.

The two Koreas agreed on Monday to begin reconnecting rail and road links, another step in an improving relationship in spite of U.S. concerns that the rapid North-South thaw could undermine efforts to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Darren Schuettler)

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