South Korea has proposed holding military talks with North Korea in a bid to calm rising tensions over their heavily fortified border.
Seoul said on Friday that it had invited Pyongyang to discuss restoring communication channels. The offer was made as military activity on the border increases.
Talks with North Korea would aim to “mutually confirm” the precise location of the land Military Demarcation Line (MDL), “discuss ways to restore military communication lines and prevent accidental clashes in border areas”, Kim Hong-cheol, deputy minister for national defence policy, told reporters.
“Specific dates and locations could be discussed through Panmunjom,” Kim said, referring to the symbolic truce village on the North-South border where soldiers from both Koreas stand face to face.
He added that the South was open to three-way talks involving the United States-led United Nations Command and hoped for “a positive response from North Korea”.
It remains unclear whether North Korea would agree to talks. Leader Kim Jong Un has taken a hardline approach towards Seoul and suspended virtually all dialogue and cooperation with the South in recent years.
Meanwhile, Pyongyang has raised its military activity along the border and continues to do so.
On Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, announced that new military units have been moved into “firing positions” along the border.
Mines, barbed-wire fences, tactical roads, antitank walls and other fortifications have also been added to one of the world’s most heavily armed borders.
Tensions have worsened since last month when three South Korean soldiers were injured by explosions near the military demarcation line in the western section of the Demilitarized Zone, the buffer zone that runs between the Koreas, commonly known as the DMZ.
The South blamed the blast on landmines laid by the North and demanded an apology . Pyongyang has fiercely rejected the accusation.
Seoul’s Ministry of National Defence said on Friday that it was difficult to predict “what further incidents could occur if this situation is allowed to continue unaddressed”.
The ministry noted that a proposal for talks last year did not receive a response from Pyongyang.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has called for the North to return to dialogue. However, Kim Yo Jong responded by slamming the suggestion of bilateral talks as “the climax of the farce”.
