A South Korean soldier wearing a helmet, center right, shakes hands with his North Korean counterpart at the inter-Korean border in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, Wednesday. A group of inspectors from the two Koreas carried out joint verification of the removal of guard posts. / Joint Press Corps



By Lee Min-hyung



The two Koreas have verified the demolition of 11 guard posts each along the border, with inspectors from each side crossing the military demarcation line (DML) for the first time since the signing of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement, the Ministry of National Defense said Wednesday.



Eleven inspection teams from the North and South, led by colonels, checked the sites of the former guard posts. They crossed the border on 11 small footpaths connecting each side, built over the past 10 days for the one-day verification.



"South Korean inspection teams verified whether all weapons and ground facilities had been completely removed from the North's positions," a ministry official said. "They also inspected underground structures at the former posts."



Unlike in South Korea, North Korea's guard posts have underground facilities, so inspectors from the South are thought to have used equipment such as ground-penetrating radars and remotely controlled cameras.



Guided by North Korean officers, South Korean inspectors crossed the MDL at around 9 a.m. and conducted an hours-long check to ensure the guard posts had been demolished in an irreversible way, according to the ministry.



In the afternoon, North Koreans visited the South's dismantled posts and carried out their own inspections.



"The bilateral verification of each other's posts is very meaningful in that this shows their willingness to fulfill joint military agreements," the ministry official said.



This latest achievement is a milestone event for the two Koreas in continuing to ease military tension and enhance trust, the ministry said.



President Moon Jae-in also watched a live streaming of the verification procedure in the National Emergency Management Center at Cheong Wa Dae.



"Bilateral military authorities have fulfilled joint agreements signed by the leaders of the two Koreas, and the ongoing inter-Korean trust is the driving force to realize a peninsula without war," Moon said.



Under the Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) signed during an inter-Korean summit in September, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to demolish 10 out of 11 guard posts on each side, in efforts to reduce military tension in reflection of the ongoing inter-Korean reconciliation.



Both sides came to terms on preserving one of the posts on each side as a symbolic move by only withdrawing weapons and troops.



The two Koreas are on track for rapid easing of military tension since their leaders ― President Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ― reached a string of agreements in their latest meeting in Pyongyang in September.



At that time, both sides reached a consensus on demolishing the posts no later than the end of last month, and to continue dismantling other posts under the mutual goal of bringing lasting peace to the peninsula.



In late October, Seoul and Pyongyang withdrew weapons and troops from guard posts at the Joint Security Area as part of efforts to turn the inter-Korean border into a peace zone.



To continue the momentum for easing tension, the military authorities from the two Koreas plan to discuss additional dismantlement of guard posts to further speed up the ongoing mood for reconciliation. South Korea has 60 guard posts along the border, while the North has about 160, according to the defense ministry.



