December 12, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea has begun talks with the United Nations Command on authority over access control to the inter-Korean Demilitarized Zone, amid rising complaints in Seoul that the US-led command maintains excessive control over an area primarily secured by South Korean forces.
According to local reports Thursday, South Korea’s Ministry of Government Legislation held a closed-door meeting with the UNC last week to discuss a potential change in who authorizes entry into the DMZ. The meeting, however, ended with no progress made.
The ministry confirmed that the meeting took place, but declined to provide details, citing confidentiality and a risk of affecting ongoing consultations with the UNC. The UNC also declined to comment for the same reason.
The talks came as Seoul — which fields the vast majority of the troops responsible for maintaining security along the DMZ — pursues increased authority over access to the area.
On Dec. 3, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young — also a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea — criticized the UNC for rejecting a request by the presidential National Security Office to visit a Korean War remains recovery site located within the DMZ.
“It undermines our dignity as a sovereign state if we cannot even enter territory where we are supposed to exercise our own jurisdiction,” Chung said at a National Assembly hearing convened to gather views on expanding Seoul’s authority to use the DMZ for peaceful purposes.
This was not the first time the UNC had blocked civilian access for nonmilitary purposes.
In June, Cardinal You Heung-sik — the first Korean to serve as a prefect of a Vatican dicastery — was denied entry to the DMZ. During the Moon Jae-in administration (2017-22), which emphasized engagement with North Korea, several proposed inter-Korean exchange projects also ran into friction with the UNC over plans involving access through the zone.
Since the signing of the Armistice Agreement in 1953, the UNC has overseen administration in the DMZ south of the Military Demarcation Line, and no personnel — military or civilian — may enter military-controlled areas there without the UNC commander’s approval.
Seoul’s complaints have also translated into legislative action, with ruling party lawmakers, including Reps. Lee Jae-gang and Han Jeoung-ae, introduced bills in support of the DMZ’s peaceful use.
Three separate proposals would allow the South Korean government to authorize access to the zone “notwithstanding the Armistice Agreement,” granting the bills precedence over other DMZ-related laws.
The Ministry of National Defense, however, warned that the new legislation must remain “within the scope that does not impede military operations under the Armistice Agreement,” stressing that any changes to DMZ access rules must be coordinated with the UNC.
Meanwhile, Kim Jung-min, a former military judge advocate and now chief attorney of a private law firm, said Seoul should proceed cautiously, given legal and structural limits imposed by the armistice.
“While the Constitution gives domestic and international law equal status, the armistice should be treated as having practical priority,” he told The Korea Herald. “When international obligations conflict with domestic law, the international norm must take precedence because it concerns trust and commitments between states.”
He added that if South Korea seeks exceptions to UNC approval, it should pursue them “through persuasion and dialogue,” not unilateral legislation.
“Short of that, gaining initiative is structurally difficult because South Korea is not an original signatory to the armistice,” he said. “If Seoul wants greater authority, it would require a peace agreement to replace the current armistice.”
The UNC reiterated the importance of adhering to the armistice.
“The Armistice Agreement remains the framework governing civilian and military access to Armistice-administered areas, including the Demilitarized Zone,” the command said in a statement released Thursday. “Upholding this framework is critical to ensuring safety, operational clarity, and the stability it has preserved for more than seven decades.”
The Armistice, signed in 1953 by the UN Command on behalf of South Korea, along with North Korea and China’s People’s Volunteer Army, established the Military Armistice Commission to supervise compliance within the DMZ. South Korea was not a direct signatory.
With North Korea and China no longer participating in the commission, the UNC has effectively assumed those functions and exercises approval authority in practice.
Complicating matters further, US Forces Korea on Thursday announced that it would reclaim control over access gates at Osan Air Base, located about 90 kilometers south of the DMZ in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. In doing so, it revoked the gate management authority previously granted to the South Korean Air Force.
Osan houses the US 7th Air Force as well as Korean Air Force units conducting combined operations. Under the Status of Forces Agreement, a bilateral pact between the allies, the US military may take any measures necessary to secure and manage bases provided by South Korea.
The UNC, established in 1950, is now led by a US four-star general who also serves as the commander of US Forces Korea and commander of the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command.