2 Koreas talk about implementing recent military agreement

In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, a U.S. and a South Korean army soldiers stand before leaving from the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. The rival Koreas and the U.S.-led U.N. Command completed withdrawing firearms and troops from a jointly controlled area at the Koreas' border village on Thursday as part of their sweeping agreements to reduce decades-long military animosities on the Korean Peninsula. (South Korea Defense Ministry via AP).

Visitors walk near the wire fence decorated with ribbons carrying messages wishing the reunification and peace of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. Since the Korean War's end, the Koreas remain split along the 248-kilometer (155-mile) -long border, called the DMZ. An estimated 2 million mines are peppered inside and near the DMZ, which is also guarded by barbed wire fences, tank traps and combat troops on both sides. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

SEOUL, South Korea – North and South Korea held military talks on their border on Friday to discuss implementing a broad-reaching military agreement last month to reduce tensions.

South Korean Major Gen. Kim Do-gyun before the meeting at Panmunjom said the discussions will include establishing a joint military committee that's meant to maintain communication and avoid crises and accidental clashes. The planned committee is one of many inter-Korean commitments spelled out in the military agreement that was reached on the sidelines of a summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in last month in Pyongyang.

The talks came a day after the Koreas and the U.S.-led U.N. Command completed removing firearms and troops from a jointly controlled area at the border village. The Koreas have also been clearing mines from front-line areas and plan to conduct their first-ever joint search for remains of soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War.

South Korea on Thursday had confirmed its soldiers had found war remains in a different front-line area.

The Koreas have also agreed to create buffer zones along their land and sea boundaries, as well as a no-fly zone above the border, and remove 11 front-line guard posts by December.

Moon has described the military agreement as an important trust-building step that will reduce border tensions and create more space for larger U.S.-led negotiations to denuclearize the North.

Some experts say the South risks conceding its conventional military strength before the North takes any concrete steps toward relinquishing its nuclear weapons.