South Korea on Friday proposed holding military talks with North Korea to clarify the location of their shared border and prevent accidental clashes in frontline areas amid rising tensions following landmine explosions that injured three South Korean soldiers.
It remains uncertain whether Pyongyang will accept the proposal. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has adopted an increasingly hard-line stance towards Seoul, effectively halting almost all dialogue and cooperation between the two countries in recent years.
Meanwhile, North Korea has been strengthening its border defences by laying mines, installing barbed-wire fences, building tactical roads and anti-tank barriers, and constructing other fortifications along one of the world's most heavily militarised frontiers.
South Korea's military has reported that North Korean soldiers crossed the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) 50 times this year while carrying out fortification work. South Korean troops responded with warning shots and broadcasts, according to the military.
Seoul made a similar proposal for military talks in November, but Pyongyang did not respond. South Korea has become more eager to reduce tensions since landmine explosions on September 21 injured three of its soldiers. Its military concluded that the blasts were caused by North Korean mines planted south of the demarcation line.
"Our Ministry of National Defense officially proposes to North Korean authorities that South-North military talks be held to mutually confirm the exact location of the ground military demarcation line between the South and the North, discuss the restoration of military communication lines, and discuss measures to prevent accidental clashes in border areas," South Korean Deputy Minister for Defense Policy Kim Hong-Cheol said in a televised statement Friday.
He added that Seoul was also willing to participate in three-way talks involving the US-led United Nations Command.
The proposal came days after Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, visited frontline areas where North Korean troops are reinforcing border defences. During the visit, she reiterated Pyongyang's threat to retaliate against any South Korean provocation targeting the fortification work.
Kim Yo Jong also announced plans to activate loudspeakers along the border to broadcast anti-Seoul propaganda, a psychological warfare tactic used by both Koreas for decades. She said unspecified "new counter means" had also been placed on alert along the frontier.
She accused South Korea of using warning shots and broadcasts against North Korean troops working on the fortifications under the false pretext that they had crossed the demarcation line.
South Korean officials say the recent activities have exposed longstanding disagreements between the two countries over the precise location of the military boundary. The line was established under the 1953 armistice that ended fighting in the Korean War, but some boundary markers dating back decades have since disappeared.
However, South Korean Defence Minister Kang Shin-chul has maintained that the location of last month's landmine explosions was not in a disputed area. North Korea has denied responsibility for the incident and rejected Seoul's demands for an apology and the removal of its remaining mines.
Kim Hong-Cheol warned that failing to resolve the disagreement over the demarcation line could increase the likelihood of accidental clashes, as troops on both sides operate according to their own understanding of the boundary.
"The recent increase in North Korean activities along the military demarcation line, as well as our warning broadcasts and warning shots, is also related to this situation," he said.
During a visit to frontline areas on Wednesday alongside Kim Yo Jong, North Korean Army Marshal Pak Jong Chon denied that North Korean troops had crossed the border while carrying out fortification work.
"Our army knows where our borderline is better than any others," he said.
Pak accused South Korea of making "deliberate, premeditated and absurd" claims to shift responsibility for escalating tensions and threatened an "overwhelming response" to any South Korean provocations.