KLRI : KOREA LEGISLATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Ⅰ. Background and purpose

▶ Transforming the DMZ into a peace zone

○South Korea’s past governments’ policies for making the DMZ a peace zone 

-In 1971, US Army Maj. Gen. Feliz H. Rogers serving as United Nations Command (UNC) Military Armistice Commission (MAC) Senior Member made the first proposal on the DMZ as a peace zone and South Korea’s Foreign Minister urged the North to accept it in 1972.

-In 1971, the South Korean government had already made a proposal for making the DMZ an international peace zone to the North, including the construction of Peace City along with Eco-Peace Park or World Peace Park.

-The past South Korean government has consistently made proposals on the DMZ as a peace zone including: the Roh Tae-woo administration’s initiative for constructing Peace City in the DMZ, the Kim Young-sam administration’s Nature Park in the DMZ, the Roh Moo-hyun administration’s Peace Eco-Park in the DMZ, the Lee Myung-bak administration’s Nadeulsom Initiative and DMZ Eco-Park, and Park Geun-hye administration’s DMZ World Peace Park.

○The North’s proposals for transforming the DMZ into a peace zone

-In the 1980s, the North made a proposal for making the DMZ a peace zone, the withdrawal of military personnel/equipment, disintegration of military facilities at the DMZ, the opening of the DMZ to civilians, and demarcation as a peace zone. Under the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement (1991) adopted by the two sides, the North proposed arms reduction and making the DMZ a peace zone

-There were actual cases of demarcating the DMZ by the two sides between the 1990s and the mid-2000s such as the Geumgangsan Mountain Tour for South Koreans and the establishment of Kaesung Industrial Complex, but the North remained passive or indifferent about the transforming the DMZ.

○The two Koreas’ recent agreement on transforming the DMZ into a peace zone and the international community’s support for it

-Following the inclusion of “transforming the DMZ into a peace zone” in the April-27 (2018) Panmunjeom Declaration and the September-19 (2018) Pyongyang Joint Declaration made by South Korean President Moon Jae-in and the National Defense Committee Chairman Kim Jung-un from the North, the two sides agreed to the withdrawal of the guard posts (GPs) at the DMZ, exclusion of all firearms from a Joint Security Area (JSA) at Panmunjom, opening of roads connecting the two sides for the joint excavation of Korean War remains, drawing up of sea route charts for a joint survey of the Hangang River estuary, etc.

-In his keynote speech at the 74th UN General Assembly on September 24, 2019, President Moon Jae-in proposed making the DMZ an international peace zone as part of his initiative for using it as a space for cooperation and recovery of mutual trust and peaceful re-unification of the Peninsula, attaining the international community’s widespread support.

 

Ⅱ. Major content

▶ Policy analysis about transforming the DMZ into a peace zone

○Development in promoting related policies and analysis of similar overseas cases of other countries

-Presentation of the significance and impacts of this idea in building peace on the Korean Peninsula

▶ Analysis about transforming the DMZ into a peace zone based on international law

○Analysis of treaties, the Armistice Agreement, and the UNC’s jurisdiction over turning the DMZ into a peace zone

-Analysis of the legal framework concerning the turning of the DMZ into a peace zone following international law; analysis of the contents of the the Armistice Agreement in 1953 on the Korean Peninsula with an emphasis on promoting the turning of the DMZ into an international peace zone

-The Armistice Agreement stipulates that UNC may exercise its jurisdiction only concerning military areas, but it is necessary to verify whether the South Korean government may exercise its jurisdiction on demarcation for peace on the DMZ, which corresponds to non-military areas.

▶ Analysis about transforming the DMZ into a peace zone based on South Korea’s domestic laws

○Analysis of existing domestic laws

-With regard to the need for review of the content of promoting the turning of the DMZ into a peace zone and the direction of the overhaul of any relevant laws, major program agendas to be promoted by the government are as follows: Promote international cooperation for removal of landmines in the DMZ, designate Panmunjeom and Kaesung as districts for peaceful cooperation, promote joint registration of historic sites in the two Koreas as UNESCO World Cultural Heritages, attract international organizations that will deal with relevant matters, and formulate directions to overhaul relevant domestic laws for the above matters.

○Formulate directions for overhauling relevant domestic laws

-Review the need for a special law concerning how to preserve and manage the DMZ and present major directions of legislative action as required

-Review the issues that may emerge as problems related to the Constitution including the distinctiveness of the inter-Korea relations; setting normative criteria for setting up an international peace zone in the DMZ; and how the current laws need to be improved to meet these requirements

 

Ⅲ. Expected effect

▶ Academic contribution

○Raise the need for discussing a specific subject like the DMZ within academic circles by presenting relevant policy-related discussion on a way of improving laws/systems through the survey/analysis of relevant laws

-Pre-review controversial issues related to domestic laws for promoting the turning of the DMZ into an international peace zone, and formulate a way for legal support for realizing these agendas, as well as the distinctiveness of the inter-Korea relations, opening discussion about the sticking points emerging as problems related to the Constitution (i.e. coordination of the DMZ-related jurisdiction, land ownership, military facilities such as landmines)

▶ Policy-related contribution

○Contribute to the institutionalization of making the DMZ an international peace zone through the analysis of these agendas following the principles of international law by checking the background of the policy debate on making the DMZ an international peace zone, which the South Korea government regards as an important matter among diverse policies designed to form a peaceful regime on the Korean Peninsula

-Provide legal support to the South Korea government’s policy aimed at easing tension and fostering a peaceful atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula by making the DMZ a peace zone

-Review the idea for enacting a framework act to promote making the DMZ a peace zone and systematic analysis of relevant bills already proposed for using them as references in future legislative action 

-Strive to build the legal/systematic framework for the smooth promotion of these program agendas