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, 2025. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — A proposal that would grant the South Korean government authority over civilian access to the Demilitarized Zone — long controlled by the United Nations Command — is facing resistance from key ministries in Seoul and from the U.S.-led command itself.
Lawmakers from the governing Democratic Party introduced the bill earlier this year, arguing that Seoul should have the ability to regulate non-military entry into the 155-mile buffer zone that separates the two Koreas. Supporters say the measure is necessary to expand peaceful uses of the DMZ, including ecological research, historical preservation and humanitarian projects.
Under current practice, the United Nations Command, which oversees the southern side of the DMZ under the terms of the 1953 armistice, holds final authority to approve or deny access. That structure, critics say, leaves South Korean officials with limited control over movement within their own territory.
The unification ministry has endorsed the legislation as a matter of “territorial sovereignty.” But both the defense and foreign ministries have objected, warning that unilateral access decisions by Seoul could undermine the armistice framework. In a written opinion to the National Assembly’s foreign affairs committee, the defense ministry cautioned that bypassing the U.N. Command risked creating “unnecessary confusion” in managing the cease-fire system that has kept a fragile peace on the peninsula for more than seven decades.
The foreign ministry has emphasized the need for “close coordination” with the command, according to officials familiar with the deliberations.
During a recent public hearing, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young argued that reforms were overdue, citing a case in which a senior presidential security official was barred from entering a DMZ site where wartime remains were being excavated. Such restrictions, he said, illustrated why South Korea must have a greater say over non-military activity in the zone.
With government agencies divided, the ruling party plans to convene a working-level meeting next week that will bring together officials from the unification, defense and foreign ministries, along with other relevant bodies, in an effort to narrow differences before the bill proceeds.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
