SEOUL: Civilians in South Korea will be able to get several kilometres nearer North Korea under new rules broadening public access to the highly militarised border zone, Seoul´s defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, and are separated by a demilitarised zone through which the border runs.
A Civilian Control Line (CCL) has long restricted civilian access to areas within 10-kms south of the heavily fortified border in order to protect military facilities.
The CCL will be shrunk to an average of six kilometres starting 2027, Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back told reporters in Seoul.
