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Bill permitting gov't control of nonmilitary DMZ access faces opposition

Published: 12 Dec. 2025, 15:51

This file photo shows the demilitarized zone and the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the namesake North Korean border city, seen from the border city of Paju in South Korea on Nov. 18. [YONHAP]

A bill permitting the Korean government to control nonmilitary access to the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which bisects the Korean Peninsula, has run into resistance from government ministries and the United Nations Command (UNC).

Earlier this year, Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers proposed legislation to give the government the authority to regulate nonmilitary access to the DMZ, as part of efforts to promote the peaceful use of the military buffer zone between the two Koreas.

Currently, the U.S.-led UNC, which supervises the southern side of the DMZ, holds the authority to approve or deny access.

The Ministry of Unification has thrown its support behind the legislation, but it has run into objections from both the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as reportedly from the UNC.

In an opinion submitted to the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, the Defense Ministry voiced concerns that allowing access to the DMZ without prior consultation with the UNC could create "unnecessary confusion" in the maintenance of the armistice of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The foreign ministry is also stressing the importance of seeking close coordination with the UNC on the matter.

The Unification Ministry, meanwhile, supports the legislation on the grounds that the issue pertains to "territorial sovereignty."

In a legislative public hearing last week, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young stressed the need for the DMZ access bill, saying a senior presidential security official was recently denied access to a war remains excavation site at White Horse Ridge in the DMZ.

Amid intergovernmental division over the bill, the DP plans to host a working-level consultative meeting next week, bringing together officials from the Unification, Defense and Foreign Ministries, as well as other related government agencies.

Yonhap