Guard Post Withdrawal

[Anchor Lead]

South and North Korea conducted an on-site verification of their recent withdrawal of guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ), and confirmed that GPs have been demolished from both sides of the border. The verification teams walked across the border to the other side through a new pathway that was laid out for this event. Here's more.

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North Korean soldiers walk along a newly laid pathway and approach the Military Demarcation Line marked by a yellow flag. They are greeting a South Korean team headed to the North to verify the recent removal of guard posts from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

[Soundbite] S. Korean soldier : "It's a first to meet here like this."

[Soundbite] N. Korean soldier : "We hope this narrow path will become a wide passageway in the future."

Under the inter-Korean military accord reached in September, the two Koreas had agreed to withdraw from the DMZ eleven guard posts on each side on a trial basis. The inspectors first examined whether all firearms and troops have been removed from the guard posts and whether any ground structures still remained. High tech equipment such as distance measuring instruments using radar and remote controlled cameras were also mobilized to check whether underground passageways were also demolished. The verification took place on the North Korean side in the morning and on the South Korean side in the afternoon in an amicable atmosphere. It's the first time in 65 years since the Korean War armistice was signed that the two Koreas made mutual visits to each other's guard post areas in the DMZ. President Moon Jae-in watched the verification process at the top office's underground bunker and called it an historic event in the history of the divided Korean Peninsula.
[Soundbite] Pres. Moon Jae-in : "Both Koreas have shown strong determination to implement the inter-Korean military agreement, thereby creating a global example of military trust-building."

Now that all procedures related to the guard post pullout has concluded, the two sides will expedite efforts on other follow-up measures to turn the DMZ into a peace zone.