North Korea Destroys Guard Posts Along Demilitarized Zone

Guard posts all exploded within four minutes

North Korea has followed through with the further demolition of guard posts on their side of the demilitarized zone as part of an agreement with South Korea. On Tuesday, this came to fruition in dramatic fashion.

The 10 guard posts in question all exploded and were totally leveled within four minutes in the afternoon, with North Korea having filled them with explosive devices. The military had previously taken down a few parts of the structures by hand.

The deals reached in September were to remove all posts on both sides of the DMZ within 1,000 yards. Each side was allowed to keep a single post under the deal, with North Korea wanting to keep the one that Kim Jong Un had visited.

In addition to the posts, international NGOs are praising both Koreas for removing land mines along the DMZ as part of the reduction of tensions. This could lead to even bigger demining in the future, and following a potential peace treaty the elimination of the DMZ in favor of a proper border.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.