ROK stops refering to DPRK as 'enemy' in white paper

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The Republic of Korea (ROK) military removed its reference to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as an "enemy" in the latest defense white paper amid a rising peace mood on the Korean Peninsula.

The reference to the DPRK government and military as an enemy of the ROK was not featured in the 2018 defense white paper, which was published on Tuesday by Seoul's defense ministry.

The white paper, which has been published biennially since 1967, said ROK's military regards forces threatening and infringing upon the country's sovereignty, territory, people and assets as an enemy.

U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un sign a joint document after their summit at the Capella Hotel in Singapore, June 12, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The paper noted that though the ROK and the DPRK have had repeated confrontations and reconciliations, the two Koreas held several summit meetings in 2018 and the first-ever DPRK-U.S. summit was also held last year.

It said those summit meetings created a new security environment for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and building of peace.

ROK President Moon Jae-in and top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un met three times last year and agreed on ways to defuse military tensions and prevent accidental clashes.

The military authorities of the two sides set up buffer zones in the air, waters and land near the inter-Korean border, disarmed the Joint Security Area (JSA), where armed soldiers of the two sides stood face-to-face in the past, and destroyed some guard posts inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ), all on a trial basis.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency