SEOUL: Troops on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the border with the North have been authorised to carry guns, the UN Command said Tuesday, after Pyongyang’s soldiers reportedly started carrying weapons there last month.

Soldiers from both countries face off at the JSA north of Seoul, which is overseen by the US-led United Nations Command.

North and South Korea agreed to disarm their troops on the JSA in line with a 2018 military pact, but the North’s troops have been reported to carry guns since November after the deal began to crumble.

Last month, Seoul partially suspended the five-year-old accord following Pyongyang’s launch of a spy satellite.

North Korea responded by scrapping the pact in full, pledging to deploy stronger armed forces and new weapons along the border.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023