South Korea begins excavating war remains near DMZ after North loses interest in joint operation
- Seoul’s defence ministry said the North had not responded to its calls
The joint excavation along the demilitarised zone of remains from the 1950-53 conflict was part of a military agreement signed at a Pyongyang summit in September between the South’s President Moon Jae-in and the North’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Under the deal – aimed at defusing military tensions – around 100 personnel from the two sides were to jointly carry out the recovery operation from April 1 to October 31.
But progress on the key issue of the North’s nuclear weapons has since stalled, with Kim’s Hanoi summit with US President Donald Trump breaking up in February without agreement, raising doubts over the future of inter-Korean projects.
Seoul’s defence ministry said the North had not responded to its calls and the South Korean military would begin preparatory excavation work on Monday on the southern side of the DMZ.
“We are making preparations so that it can be immediately shifted to a South-North joint excavation once North Korea responds,” Roh Jae-cheon, the ministry’s deputy spokesman, told reporters.
