UNC says pending bills to ease DMZ access 'completely at odds' with armistice
Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 19:32
Updated: 28 Jan. 2026, 19:40
![An eagle flies over the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, as seen from the border city of Paju, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/01/28/2c3a1831-66a2-4b88-9cc2-a41d36729ca6.jpg)
An eagle flies over the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, as seen from the border city of Paju, Gyeonggi, on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]
The United Nations Command (UNC) on Wednesday voiced strong opposition against bills seeking to grant the South Korean government control of nonmilitary access to the demilitarized zone (DMZ), saying they are "completely at odds" with the Armistice Agreement.
The remarks by UNC officials came as ruling party lawmakers have proposed bills aiming 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 separating the two Koreas.
The UNC has objected to the legislative move, urging the need to adhere to the armistice in administering the 250-kilometer-long (155-mile), 4-km-wide area between the two Koreas, which remain technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
"From a technical reading of the Armistice Agreement and reading of the bills that are pending, they are completely at odds," a UNC official told reporters.
The issue of DMZ access control has been under the spotlight since Unification Minister Chung Dong-young voiced his support for the bill, citing the recent case in which the deputy national security adviser was denied access to the buffer zone. He said the matter pertains to "territorial sovereignty."
The UNC official expressed concern that the pending bills would remove the UNC commander's authority to control access to the DMZ while still leaving him responsible for activities that may occur within the military buffer zone.
Currently, U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson doubles as the commander of the U.S.-led multinational command. Brunson has also stressed that the DMZ should not become "politicized."
"If there is an incident inside the DMZ that pushes us to return to hostilities, the president of the Republic of Korea is not the one who is going to be addressed for that failure; it falls upon the UNC commander," another UNC official said.
When asked about the circumstances surrounding the UNC's denial of access to the DMZ by Seoul's deputy national security adviser, the UNC official made it clear it was not "denied out of arbitrary means."
"We follow clear, delineated procedures to ensure that we are meeting our regulatory requirements as laid out," the official said.
Addressing views that have supported the pending bills as linked to territorial sovereignty, the UNC official emphasized that the command is purely a military organization that has been granted jurisdiction of the southern half of the DMZ.
"Nobody disputes that the southern half of the DMZ is the sovereign territory of the Republic of Korea," he said. "UNC is a military organization, not a state. It cannot take sovereignty. It cannot possess sovereignty."
Speaking to lawmakers at a parliamentary committee session on Wednesday, Minister Chung said lawmaking is an inherent authority of the legislature, dismissing the UNC's remarks.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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