SOUTH KOREA/NORTH KOREA/DMZ: In the demilitarised zone on Korean Peninsula, North Korean soldiers appear more confident than usual, American U.N. soldier says

While North Korea's nuclear test spread fresh jitters in South Korea, all remained calm at a truce village on Wednesday (October 11), the only portion of the Korean Demilitarized Zone where South and North Korean forces stand face-to-face. Yet the U.N.'s Major Jose Devarona said he noticed that the North Korean soldiers seems to act differently ever since the North announced it successfully conducted a nuclear test on Monday (October 9). "They're walking a little bit taller, and a little bit more confident and trying to make contact with our soldiers. And that's about it. Really nothing significant," said Executive Officer of the United Nations Command Security Battalion for the Joint Security Area Major Jose Devarona, an American soldier. The historical village is called Panmunjum -- where Panmungak, the building used to sign the 1953 artmistice that ended hostilities in the Korean War, still stands. The building is located North of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), which divides the two Koreas. From a window of Panmungak, a set of binoculars was seen facing the South. The village is located 53 km northwest of Seoul. South of the MDL stand the South Korean and U.N. Command (UNC)soldiers. The blue huts that straddle along the MDL are used for discussion between the UNC and North Korean officials. From time to time, North Korean and the United Nations Command soldiers meet direftly to discuss matters. On Wednesday, a joint duty officer meeting among soldiers from North Korea and the UNC was held at the Joint Security Area. According to David Oten, Chief of Public Information at the United States Forces Korea said the meeting was held to discuss the repatriation of a North Korean soldier whose body was found in the Han river in South Korea. South and North Korea remain technically at war under a truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, but there has been a rapid warming of ties in recent years. There have been deadly fights before at the Joint Security Area -- where U.S and South Korean troops pass within speaking distance of North Korean soldiers -- including an axe attack by North Korean soldiers in 1976 that killed two U.S. officers. There are about 100,000 visitors a year who come from the South while the number from the North has usually been less than 10,000 a year, according to an assessment made by U.N. Command a few years ago. NORTH KOREAN MILITARY

ITN Source | October 11, 2006

Tags:. .ago. .less. .seems. .pass. .held