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UN Command says military boundary between two Koreas under its authority

Published: 28 Dec. 2025, 12:34

A soldier stands at a North Korean military guard post along the military demarcation line on June 26, 2024. [AP/YONHAP]

The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) has said a military demarcation line (MDL) marking the boundary between the two Koreas has been under its authority, in an apparent objection to an internal revision by South Korea's military over land border rules to prevent accidental clashes with North Korea.

The UNC said in a statement to Yonhap News Agency, "The United Nations Command reaffirms its commitment to maintaining the Armistice Agreement, including the MDL, and to supporting measures that prevent escalation and promote stability within the demilitarized zone [DMZ]."

The statement came in response to a question about how the UNC assessed the South Korean military's envisioned revision of border rules, after the Korean military reportedly refined the MDL markers in order to reduce discrepancies between the two sides.

"The military demarcation line was established and depicted in Map Volume I of the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, following a series of armistice negotiations," the UNC said.

Last week, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had ordered troops to prioritize markers that indicate the MDL when making decisions, while also "comprehensively" applying the South Korean military map and a line connecting MDL markers set out by the UNC when they are difficult to discern.

Critics say the move benefits North Korean troops by allowing the military to use a line drawn farther south when determining whether a border crossing has occurred.

On Seoul's recent proposal for military talks with Pyongyang, the UNC stressed that military dialogue related to the MDL should be conducted "under the auspices of the command," as stipulated in the armistice agreement.

A North Korean flag flutters in the wind atop a 160-meter tower in North Korea's Kijong-dong village, near the truce village of Panmunjom, seen from Paju, Gyeonggi on Dec. 25. [AP/YONHAP]

South Korea proposed holding military talks with North Korea last month to clarify the MDL as the number of crossings by North Korean soldiers while working near the border has surged in recent months.

The statement by the UNC came after it issued a rare statement earlier this month objecting to a bill proposed by ruling party lawmakers that calls for granting the South Korean government control of nonmilitary access to the DMZ.

"Since 1953, UNC has been the successful administrator of the demilitarized zone, a role that has been essential in maintaining stability, especially amid periods of heightened inter-Korean tensions," the UNC said in the statement.

Yonhap