South Korea to seek consultation with UNC over push to reopen border trails inside DMZ
Published: 22 Jan. 2026, 13:07
![An eagle flies across the sky over the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), dividing North and South Korea, seen from a border area in Paju, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/22/29f2acba-1c9b-460f-9ea6-345bce21b311.jpg)
An eagle flies across the sky over the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), dividing North and South Korea, seen from a border area in Paju, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]
The Ministry of Unification said Thursday it will seek consultations with the U.N. Command (UNC) over its move to reopen three shuttered trail sections within the inter-Korean buffer zone of the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
In 2019, South Korea launched 11 trail routes, known as the DMZ Peace Trail, along key border cities and towns near the buffer zone, including Gimpo, Paju and Yeoncheon, providing a rare glimpse into generally inaccessible forest and security sites to the public.
Three sectors of the trails in the localities of Paju, Cheorwon and Goseong inside the DMZ were, however, closed to the public in April 2024 on national security grounds amid escalated tensions with North Korea.
"The government is pushing to restore three sectors of the DMZ Peace Trail, which are situated within the DMZ," a unification ministry official said.
The remarks by the ministry official came a day after Unification Minister Chung Dong-young visited one of the closed trail sections in Goseong, where he renewed his commitment to reopening the trail to the public.
"I will make efforts to have the Peace Trail reclaim its full course by reopening the [closed] sections within the DMZ, in line with the Lee Jae Myung government's measures to preemptively restore trust [with North Korea]," Chung said during the trip.
Reopening the three closed DMZ trail sections within this year was part of the ministry's policy plans reported to Lee last month.
The trail restoration plan is, however, likely to face objections from the U.S-led UNC, which oversees the DMZ as the South-side enforcer of the armistice to the 1950-53 Korean War.
The official said that the unification ministry plans to advance the plan through consultations with the UNC, while emphasizing that the armistice, which is military in nature, does not restrict the peaceful use of the DMZ.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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