Party and government discuss lifting and easing military facility protection zones: "Military and local residents must coexist"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea and the Ministry of National Defense discussed measures on the 14th to lift or ease military facility protection zones to improve convenience for residents in border areas.

On the morning of the same day, the party and government held a 'Party-Government Consultation on Lifting and Easing Military Facility Protection Zones' at the National Assembly Members' Office Building to discuss these measures.

Yoon Ho-jung, Co-Chairman of the Democratic Party's Joint Election Committee, is delivering opening remarks at the Policy Coordination Meeting held at the National Assembly on the 13th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Floor Leader Yoon Ho-jung said in his opening remarks, "The area of military facility protection zones lifted under the Moon Jae-in administration is more than 10 times larger than that of the previous Park Geun-hye administration, and nearly twice that of the earlier Lee Myung-bak administration. From 2017 to last year, protection zones totaling 564.2 square kilometers were lifted. This is nearly 200 times the size of Yeouido, returning the land to the people," he said.

Leader Yoon added, "I hope the military will continue to make greater efforts to gain trust from local residents and coexist with local communities."

Policy Committee Chair Park Wan-joo also said, "At today's party-government consultation, we plan to prepare and discuss in depth specific implementation plans that will help revitalize the local economy along with easing protection zones. As recently announced in presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung's defense pledge, we will continuously promote policies that ease protection zones through communication with local governments, reduce civilian control zones in border areas, and remove fences along the Han River to resolve infringements on citizens' property rights."

Minister of National Defense Seo Wook is seated at the 53rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) high-level talks held on the morning of the 2nd at the video conference room of the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Joint Press Corps

Minister of National Defense Seo Wook stated, "The Ministry of National Defense is lifting or easing protection zones by comprehensively considering the military's operational aspects and the enhancement of public convenience in accordance with the Defense Reform 2.0 implementation plan. This lifting and easing is being promoted by reviewing areas where local governments and residents request the lifting to coexist with local residents," he said.

So far, the party and government have lifted military facility protection zones and eased controlled protection zones to restricted protection zones, allowing local governments to develop in consultation with the military. This party-government consultation appears to be a follow-up to candidate Lee's defense pledge. Last year, candidate Lee announced plans to reduce civilian control zones in border areas to half of their current size.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.