Military fails to verify underground facilities in 2018 demolition of N. Korean guard posts: report

The South Korean military failed to confirm whether underground facilities were demolished when North Korea disabled its guard posts (GPs) in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in 2018, as part of an inter-Korean agreement, a declassified report showed Tuesday. As part of an inter-Korean agreement signed that year to reduce tensions and prevent accidental clashes, the two Koreas demolished their respective GPs. Following an on-site inspection of the demolition that same year, the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff confirmed the destruction of 10 North Korean GPs and the disarmament of another. On Tuesday, a newly declassified defense ministry report submitted to Rep. Yu Yong-weon of the ruling People Power Party showed that while officials dispatched to the site found that the 10 GPs were mostly destroyed or demolished, they had difficulties accessing their underground facilities. In most cases, the North Korean side denied the existence of underground facilities, barring South Korean inspectors from properly checki ng them, according to the report. "While North Korea could swiftly restore its GPs in just two to three months as their underground facilities were not destroyed, South Korea would need to inject 150 billion won (US$109 million) to restore its GPs by 2033," Yu said, calling for a probe into the verification process. In November, North Korea dispatched soldiers and equipment to the DMZ in an apparent move to restore the GPs on its side after vowing to resume all military measures halted under the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, as Seoul partially suspended the accord in response to the North's military spy satellite launch. Source: Yonhap News Agency