Joint survey to reopen the Han and Imjin River estuaries on the border between North and South Korea
The goal is to use the waterways for tourism, environmental protection and collecting construction aggregate. A navigation map should be ready by next January.
Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) – South Korea’s Defence Ministry announced this morning that North and South Korean military, maritime and civil authorities have begun a joint survey of the Han and Imjin River estuaries, on their western border, to study how they can be used for tourism, environmental protection and the collection of construction aggregate.
Access to the area has been highly restricted because of military tensions between the two sides. Now, "The joint survey of the Han River estuary is a measure taken for the first time since the Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953," the Defence Ministry said in a press release.
A 20-member survey team will include ten people from each side, including military and maritime government officials and waterway experts.
The team members will carry no weapons and are banned from doing any provocative acts during the joint survey with the South deploying six ships for the joint survey.
Under the September inter-Korean military accord, the team will conduct the survey until the end of the year.
After the latter is complete, they will provide the Defence Ministry with a navigation map by January next year.
The 70-kilometre-long waterway that the Koreas agreed to jointly use spans around 280 square kilometres.
Under the inter-Korean accord, people and ships that want to use the areas must notify the military authorities a day before their entry.
Between April and September, people will be allowed to use the estuaries from 7 am to 7 pm, whilst they will remain open from 8 am to 6 pm between October and March.
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12/02/2016 15:14
