Mines removed as Koreas move to ease tensions

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, right, walks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Samjiyon guesthouse in North Korea. Photo / AP

South Korea has begun removing mines at two sites inside its heavily fortified border with North Korea, which is expected to do the same as part of their recent deals to ease decades-long military tensions. They will likely end up pulling out a very small portion of an estimated 2 million mines littered inside and near the 248km long, 4km wide Demilitarised Zone. But it would be the rivals' first joint demining work in more than a decade and comes amid international diplomacy aimed at ridding North Korea of its nuclear weapons. A look at the mine clearing:

The sites

The mine removal that was due to start yesterday took place at the Koreas' Joint Security Area in their shared border village of Panmunjom and another front-line area where the two countries plan their first joint searches for the remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed in 1953 to end the Korean War, is the most famous DMZ site. Rival soldiers face each other only metres away from each other. It's also a venue for talks such as two of the three inter-Korean summit meetings so far this year.

Under deals signed by their defence chiefs on the sidelines of a September summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae In, the demining of the Joint Security Area is part of a broader step to "disarm" the zone and turn it to a "place for peace and unity".

The other area to be demined is around the so-called "Arrow Head Hill", where some of the war's heaviest fighting took place over a strategically important hilltop position.

Seoul's Defence Ministry said the remains of about 300 South Korean, French and US soldiers are believed to be in the area. The remains of a large number of Chinese and North Korean soldiers are also likely there.

The mines

Experts believe the South Korean and US militaries have planted about 1 million to 1.2 million mines south of the DMZ while North Korea has put about 800,000 to 1 million mines on its side. It's not known how many mines are at Panmunjom and Arrow Head Hill, but military commentator Lee Illwoo said the Koreas would be able to clear tens of thousands at most.

Experts believe both Koreas poorly managed their mines and don't know exactly how many they planted and in what specific places.

It's not unusual for wooden North Korean mine boxes to wash down a swollen river in summer, causing deadly incidents in South Korea. Many South Korean mines are also believed to have been dislodged due to flooding or landslides.

At Panmunjom, the Koreas are to spend 20 days clearing mines before withdrawing troops, weapons and guard posts in the area over the next five days. They eventually plan to have 35 unarmed personnel from each side guard the village and let tourists freely cross ankle-high concrete slabs that mark the border there.

In the case of Arrow Head Hill, they aim to remove the mines by the end of November. After building a cross-border road and forming a joint excavation team, the Koreas are to launch a seven-month effort to locate remains in April next year.

The ramifications

The mine clearing is the first of its kind since the Koreas worked together to remove mines and explosives at a few border areas to accommodate now-stalled economic and transportation projects during a previous era of rapprochement in the 2000s.

Other deals reached by the defence chiefs include withdrawing frontline guard posts and establishing buffer zones along the land, sea and aerial boundaries where live-fire drills and military flights would be banned.

"It's the start of peace," said Kim Ki Ho, head of the private Korea Mine Clearance Research Institute. "We have to remove those mines, though we are not taking out all the mines at the DMZ."

Lee, the commentator, played down the significance of the mine removal, saying: "North Korea's military threats won't disappear even though we get rid of a small number of frontline mines."

The complete removal of all the DMZ mines could be a dilemma for both Koreas. South Korea would find itself more vulnerable to North Korean infiltration and assault via land routes, while North Korea would worry about frontline soldiers and residents escaping to the South more easily, Lee said. Most North Korean refugees have fled via the less guarded border with China.

- AP