UNC, NK discuss rights transfer for DMZ

The United Nations Command (UNC) and North Korea held chief secretary-level talks on Tuesday at the truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the question of transferring the rights to control the Demilitarized Zone, which was agreed upon at the inter-Korean defense talks Sept. 25-26.

At the meeting, the UNC side affirmed its position of handing administrative control of the DMZ over to the South Korean side for the construction of an inter-Korean border railway and a parallel highway. But the North Korean side requested that the UNC transfer its UNC jurisdiction as well as its negotiating rights.

Earlier, the North Korean side demanded in a letter that the UNC hand over its jurisdiction of the southern part of the DMZ on Oct. 18, but the UNC counter-proposed on Nov. 6 that it would give the South administrative management instead of jurisdiction.