North Korean soldiers installing fences on the eastern front in March 2025. North Korea is reportedly installing barbed wire up to 80 meters inside the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Concerns are rising that North Korea's fortification efforts and southward installation of fences could potentially shift the MDL southward. [Photo Credit: Joint Chiefs of Staff]

The recent series of provocations by North Korean forces in the vicinity of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL), 1.92 km south of the Northern Limit Line, is not merely a physical intrusion but a strategic invasion attempt to assert effective occupation of our territory. 

Following Kim Jong Un's declaration of 2024 as the year of 'two hostile states,' North Korea has installed fences up to 80-100 meters north of the MDL, deployed large troop contingents, and constructed tactical roads along the 155-mile armistice line, which was defended with blood and sweat by Korean War veterans until the last five minutes.

Despite this, the Ministry of National Defense has remained silent. In the vacuum created by the abandonment of surveillance and response capabilities in pursuit of peace policies, the pattern of 'territorial surrender' is repeating. Let us examine instances where the territorial sovereignty of the Republic of Korea has been silently eroded. 

1. Self-Inflicted Practical Discrepancy Between the Military Demarcation Line and 'Tactical Boundary Lines'

Last year's directive to front-line units, stating 'in case military maps and UN Command reference lines differ, use the southern line as the standard,' was a voluntary and humiliating territorial concession masked as an effort to ease security tensions.

By prioritizing 'collision prevention' over the fundamental military objective of denying enemy infiltration, we have voluntarily ceded territory and retreated our operational radius.

This has left the area between the MDL and the boundary line as a 'gray zone,' providing the enemy with grounds for provocation. While military common sense dictates maximizing the defense of sovereign territory in ambiguous situations, policies that have voluntarily opened infiltration routes and permitted incursions have led to the current encroachment on MDL territory and the militarization of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

In the face of North Korea's southward advancement across the MDL and physical fortification, disguised as fence installation, we have limited ourselves to a declarative condemnation of 'Armistice Agreement violations' and are even out of sync with the UN Command.

2. Silence on MDL Encroachment and Reduced Combat Zones in Wartime Due to Adjustment of Civilian Control Line Northward Movement

Recently, North Korea has attempted to exert effective control over our territory by constructing tactical roads and deploying troops near the MDL. However, the military, under the guise of 'collision prevention,' has voluntarily narrowed its operational scope and allowed North Korea's encroachment south of the MDL.

Conversely, the 2km northward adjustment of the Civilian Control Line (CCL), the forward combat zone in preparation for war, represents a reduction in combat zones and a severe undermining of operational plans for wartime, shaking the very foundation of our defense posture. The dismantling of 23 anti-tank barriers, disguised as policy, is an act of neutralizing military capabilities and a dangerous act of treason and anti-state behavior that dismantles our defense system against full-scale war.

Lost in peace policies and collision prevention, we have allowed enemy infiltration, and the territorial sovereignty of the Republic of Korea now faces a threat that is difficult to recover from. It is time to shed the complacency of bureaucratic pacifism and take decisive military action to defend our territory as a physical entity.

3. 'Joint Management' of the Yellow Sea Provisional Measures Zone (PMZ) Sets a Precedent for Maritime Territorial Surrender

Discussions last year regarding 'joint management and joint use' of the Yellow Sea Provisional Measures Zone were tantamount to maritime territorial surrender. Attempting to cover blatant incursions such as illegal fishing and facility installation with diplomatic compromise was a self-inflicted blunder that tied our own enforcement authority.

While China continuously attempts to solidify its territorial claims by leaving 'historical records' of occupation through provocations, we have wasted precious time with a complacent attitude of 'under discussion.' Such administrative incompetence ultimately leads to the loss of effective sovereignty. Sovereignty is not subject to negotiation; it must be defended through immediate and decisive law enforcement.

4. North Korea's Occupation of Hambak Island is Territorial Loss Caused by Security Incompetence

Hambak Island is undeniably our territory, registered in the cadastral records as part of Seodo-myeon, Ganghwa County. However, the Moon Jae-in administration created confusion with contradictory explanations from various ministries, such as 'north of the NLL' or 'currently under North Korea's effective control.' In particular, the conflicting jurisdictional interpretations and complacent responses from the Korea Forest Service and the Ministry of National Defense resulted in neglected security gaps.

Exploiting this administrative incompetence, North Korea has constructed military facilities and effectively occupied this strategic stronghold. The fatal gap between data and on-the-ground response is a painful case of treason that has led to the loss of security sovereignty.

5. Outsourcing Rear Area Border Security Operations to Civilians is 'Privatization of Security'

Outsourcing rear area border security operations to civilian entities is a 'privatization of security' that undermines the foundation of national security. Border security is not merely guarding facilities; it is a high-level military operation that requires immediate response to enemy infiltration and is an extension of training.

Handing this over to private companies negates the military's reason for existence and is an act of collapsing the nation's defense line from within.

If the numerous spies and visa-free individuals currently operating covertly in South Korea were to instigate riots in the event of an emergency, security private companies would be unable to respond. Entrusting core sovereignty to private firms based on the logic of efficiency in the face of declining troop numbers is a self-destructive policy that erodes the military's identity.

The government must now break free from the passive inertia of 'management and consultation' for collision prevention and transition to decisive action. First, we must provide immediate and physical protests against all illegal activities in the border areas and meticulously document them to clearly prove our effective control to the international community.

Furthermore, we must establish a government-wide integrated territorial management system to prevent inter-ministerial confusion, fundamentally revise passive response guidelines, establish the principle of territorial defense, and eliminate the idea of outsourcing rear area border security operations from the outset.

Restoring the military's identity is also urgent. We must cease the bureaucratic delusion and stubbornness that labels active Korea Military Academy graduates involved in the 12·3 martial law as potential criminals and attempts to abolish the Korea Military Academy. We must create an environment where the military can unite and focus solely on external threats, thereby restoring the pride of our soldiers.

A nation exists only when it protects its people and territory. Remaining silent in the face of enemy territorial encroachment is tantamount to abandoning sovereignty. A government that cannot protect its territory has no reason to exist.

We must cease peace-centric policies and declarations and demonstrate our will to defend our territory through military actions and on-site responses to the enemy's southward advancement across the MDL and the militarization of the DMZ. We must prove that the sovereignty of the Republic of Korea is alive. Restoring territorial sovereignty urgently requires the normalization of the Republic of Korea.

◆ Park Pil-kyu

Editor, Hankookilbo

Korea Military Academy, Class of 40