来自朝鲜和韩国的谈判代表以及美国领导的联合国军司令部星期二展开首轮会谈，讨论如何将戒备森严的南北分界线的一部分非军事化。
会谈将在所谓的联合安全区举行。自1953年朝鲜战争停战以来，美、韩、朝三方一直控制着这一联合安全区，理论上说朝韩仍处于战争状态。
朝鲜领导人金正恩和韩国总统文在寅上个月在平壤举行第三次峰会，期间双方达成协议，解除对联合安全区的武装，包括在今年年底前清除埋在地区内的地雷，以及拆除哨所、监视设备和其他军事装备。
联合安全区是非军事区内唯一一处朝鲜和韩国的部队面对面的地方。该地区长期以来一直用于外交接触。那里1976年发生一起血腥事件，当时有两名美国陆军军官被朝鲜士兵手持斧头杀害。
朝韩双方星期一在板门店休战村的高层会谈中还同意今年年底前展开一个联合项目，连接双方铁路和公路，并进行现代化改造。双方还同意11月份在北部的金刚山度假村就朝鲜战争离散家庭问题举行红十字会谈。
Negotiators from North and South Korea, along with the U.S.-led United Nations Command, are holding their first talks Tuesday on demilitarizing a section of the heavily fortified border that separates the rival Koreas.
The talks will take place in the so-called Joint Security Area, which the three sides have controlled since the Korean War ended with a truce in 1953, leaving North and South Korea in a technical state of war.
During their third summit in Pyongyang last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in reached an agreement to disarm the JSA, including clearing mines buried within the small area, and removing guard posts, surveillance and other military equipment by the end of the year.
The Joint Security Area is the only spot within the Demilitarized Zone where troops from North and South Korea stand face-to-face. The area has long been used for diplomatic engagement. The JSA is also the scene of a bloody incident in 1976, when two U.S. Army officers were killed by ax-wielding North Korean soldiers.
During high-level talks Monday in the truce village of Panmunjom, the two Koreas agreed to begin a joint project to modernize and connect their rail and roadways before the end of the year. They also agreed to hold Red Cross talks related to families separated by the Korean War at the North’s Mount Kumgang Resort in November.