The two Koreas and the U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) met Tuesday for the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 to discuss demilitarizing the world’s most heavily armed border area.

The three-way talks were held at the border village of Panmunjom, also known as the Joint Security Area (JSA). This was the first time that representatives from North and South Korea and the UNC came together since the signing of the armistice agreement in 1953 that ended the Korean War in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Panmunjom is the only point along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 250-kilometer (160 mile)-long, 4-kilometer-wide strip of land that divides the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, where the two Koreas stand face to face.

Originally a neutral zone, the area was later divided by a military demarcation line along with the rest of the DMZ after the axe murder of two American Army officers there by North Korean soldiers in 1976. Since then, opposing guards from each side have been locked in a tense standoff, with South and North Korean soldiers armed with pistols. South Korean soldiers also wear dark sunglasses to avoid making eye contact.

Under the steps of demilitarization agreed by the two Koreas during the latest summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his counterpart Kim Jong-un last month in Pyongyang, the two Koreas will work to remove land mines in the area, disarm military guards, withdraw some guard posts in the zone and move them to the perimeters, and reduce the number of personnel to 35 each.

As early as next month, visitors to the border village would be able to step freely in both Koreas. Panmunjom is a major tourist attraction that attracts more than 100,000 visitors every year, but currently visitors to each side are not allowed to cross the other side of the demarcation line.

By Ahn Doo-won and Kim Hyo-jin

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