North and South Korean soldiers enter each other's territory
North invades the South
The North invaded the South in 1950, triggering the Korean War, and Seoul went on to change hands four times as Pyongyang's Chinese-backed forces and the US-led UN troops supporting the South fought their way up and down the peninsula and back again.
In pic: North Korean army soldiers, top, are greeted by South Korean army soldiers, wearing helmets, as they cross the Military Demarcation Line inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to inspect the dismantled South Korean guard post in the central section of the inter-Korean border in Cheorwon.
AP
Conflict
In pic: South Korean soldiers walk at Arrowhead Ridge, a site of battles in the 1950-53 Korean War, as a tactical road is built across the military demarcation line inside the Demilitarized Zone.
AFP
Leaders & agreement
In pic: North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) shakes hands with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in (R) at the Military Demarcation Line that divides their countries.
AFP
The fight
South Korean inspectors visited each of the guard posts on the North's side to make sure they had been dismantled and all firearms and troops removed.
North Korean inspectors carried out the same process at the South's bunkers in the afternoon.
In pic: This general view shows an explosion as part of the dismantlement at a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone.
AFP
Military demarcation line
Led by the North Koreans, the Southerners walked along a path where the North's guard posts had once stood, soldiers from both sides taking photos and filming the process as they chatted.
"This marks the first time since the division that the soldiers of the North and South... are peacefully crossing the military demarcation line," the ministry said.
In pic: South Korean soldiers stand guard as construction equipment is used to destroy a South Korean guard post in the Demilitarized Zone.
AFP
North vs South
Despite its name, the area around the DMZ is one of the most fortified places on earth, replete with minefields and barbed-wire fences.
But under the plans to ease tensions agreed in Pyongyang, the two Koreas have demilitarised the border truce village of Panmunjom, leaving it manned by 35 unarmed personnel from each side.
In pic: South Korean army soldiers leave for the North to inspect the dismantled North Korean guard post in the central section of the inter-Korean border in Cheorwon, Korea.
(Text: AFP)
Reuters
