National Security & Defense

(Source JTBC News 9.27)

JTBC News has entered the discussion concerning the military agreement providing for the buffer zone in the West Sea on behalf of the current South Korean administration and Ministry of National Defense. According to their report, the buffer zone restrictions on military activities in the zone do not affect the NLL as the boundary of the respective states' maritime territory at all. Additionally, as shown by the chart above, the effect of restrictions on training and operations is far greater on the much more extensive shoreline of North Korea in the zone. The restriction on the use of artillery in the buffer zone is proportionately much greater on North Korea, which has many more artillery assets deployed in the coastal region. The effect on naval maneuver in the zone is felt to be minimal because such exercises can readily take place outside the zone.