South Korea formally proposes military talks with North Korea on border issues

South Korea's defence ministry formally proposed on Friday military talks with North Korea in order to agree on the exact location of the land border between the two Koreas and to reduce the risk of accidental clashes.

Joyce Lee / Reuters

October 23, 2026

South Korea formally proposes military talks with North Korea on border issues

FILE PHOTO: A view shows North Korea's guard post in this picture taken from the top of the Aegibong Peak Observatory, south of the demilitarised zone (DMZ), separating the two Koreas in Gimpo, South Korea, November 29, 2024.

Kim Soo-hyeon/Reuters

SEOUL - South Korea's defence ministry again proposed on Friday military talks with North Korea in order to agree on the exact location of the land border between the two Koreas and to reduce the risk of accidental clashes.

The proposal, announced by Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Kim Hong-cheol, follows a landmine explosion in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) last month that injured South Korean soldiers.

North Korean troops have been building tactical roads and fences and laying mines near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the DMZ separating the two Koreas in recent years.

Kim said the North's troops had crossed the line in the process.

The ministry proposed talks last November to resolve differences over where the line lies, but Pyongyang has not responded.

South Korean military had concluded that North Korea had buried the mines south of the MDL that caused the blast that seriously injured two South Korean soldiers in September. Pyongyang has rejected those findings.

- Joyce Lee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Stephen Coates/Reuters

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