남북합의서에 따라 철거대상 11개 GP중 보존된 강원도 고성 GP의 현재 모습<br /><br />Back in December Seoul and Pyeongyang dismantled ten front-line guard posts each in the DMZ as steps towards building trust and establishing peace around the border area.<br />Each side decided to preserve one GP out of the initially designated 11 spots, partly to let them serve as a reminder of history.<br />Park Ji-won shows us how the atmosphere there has changed since. <br />This place is only about three hundred meters away from the Military Demarcation Line,... the border dividing South and North Korea.<br />And this now-defunct facility used to be one of many front-line guard posts,... set up along the border.<br />This guard post, located in Goseong, Gangwon-do Province at the northeast of the Demilitarized Zone, started operations back in July 1953,... right after the armistice agreement between the two Koreas came into effect.<br />And until only last October,... dozens of South Korean soldiers were stationed here.<br />But as this was designated as one of the eleven guard posts that South and North Korea had each decided to remove,... as part of implementing last September's comprehensive inter-Korean military agreement,... it is now all empty,... devoid of firearms and troops, and with other facilities like electricity and water supplies also removed.<br />The South Korean national flag and UN Command flag that used to hang here are also gone. <br />However,... as the two Koreas decided to preserve one of the eleven guard posts each... for historical reasons,... this place has been preserved.<br />North Korea has decided to preserve a guard post farther west,... but the North Korean guard post that was located less than six hundred meters away from here,... was demolished last fall. <br />According to military sources,... North Korean soldiers can sometimes be seen patrolling in the area.<br />South Korean troops stationing at nearby posts say,... despite reduced inter-Korean tensions at the border,.. they stay vigilant. <br />"All our troops conduct operations with firm and full defensive readiness, in order not to create any vacuum in our military defense posture.<br />It is believed that the South has about sixty and the North about a hundred and sixty guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone.<br />Seoul's defense ministry officials say the ultimate goal of both Koreas is to remove all of them in the near future.<br />The Cultural Heritage Administration also announced Thursday,... that this guard post will be designated as a national cultural asset,... to show its symbolic meaning.<br />Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
