Roh to Propose Force Reductions on the DMZ

This is the only thing I have seen yet that may be a positive outcome of the inter-Korean summit:

During the Oct. 2 to 4 inter-Korean summit, President Roh Moo-hyun will propose the complete withdrawal of armed forces from inside the demilitarized zone that has separated the two Koreas for more than a half century, a high-ranking administration official told the JoongAng Ilbo yesterday.
“President Roh will propose to Kim Jong-il, the North Korean National Defense Commission chairman, to completely pull out 100 South Korean GPs [guard posts] and 280 North Korean GPs from the DMZ,” the source said, referring to the military posts located inside the 4 kilometer-wide strip of land along the 243-kilometer long border. “Removing the GPs means the withdrawal of soldiers and arms located inside the zone.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo HT: DPRK Studies]

What is interesting about this is that the guard points and heavey weapons aren’t supposed to be there to begin with:

The 1953 Korean War armistice established the demilitarized zone, and only light infantry is supposed to patrol inside the DMZ. Building guard posts and deploying heavy weaponry is in violation of the truce, but the North Korean military constructed guard posts inside the zone a few years after the war and brought in heavy weapons, including machine guns. The South countered by doing the same.

So basically President Roh and company want to reward Kim Jong-il by having him withdraw troops and heavy weapons from the DMZ that are in vioation of the armistice agreement to begin with. 

I have no faith in a South Korean administration that claims there is no human rights violations in North Korea thus I am feeling quite cynical about this latest announcement.  This is probably a ploy by Cheongwadae to get the ROK military agree to give up the current Northern Limit Line in the West Sea. President Roh and his cronies will do this by having North Korea agree to withdraw the guard points and heavy weapons during the upcoming summit in return for giving up territory along the NLL.  Of course South Korea implements there side of the agreement first and pulls out all the patrol boats from the West Sea area and then the North Koreans move all their patrol boats in.

Once North Korea has consolidated their control of the West Sea territory they then will find some kind of excuse for not upholding their side of the bargain.  Thus North Korea keeps the guard posts and heavy weapons in place and keeps the West Sea territory.  For the South Korean government to get the West Sea territory back they would have to attack the North Korean patrol boats which we all know is not going to happen.  Thus North Korea gains the West Sea territory without giving anything up in return.

Like I said I can’t help but feel cynical about the Roh government cutting deals with the North Koreans.