North and South Korea begin disarming their heavily fortified border

Jung Yeon-Je/AP

South Korean soldiers standing guard at the nations' Joint Security Area located along their border.

• North and South Korean troops have begun to disarm their heavily fortified border as part of reconciliation efforts between the nations.
• Starting on Monday, Seoul and Pyongyang began removing all the land mines from the Joint Security Area located along the 155-mile Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries.
• The move is part of the agreement reached between the South's President Moon Jae-In and the North's Kim Jong Un last month in Pyongyang, where they pledged to continue efforts to disarm the border and halt hostilities.

North and South Korean troops have started to disarm their heavily fortified border as part of reconciliation efforts between the nations.

Starting on Monday, Seoul and Pyongyang began removing all the land mines from the Joint Security Area (JSA), located along the 155-mile Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries.

The project will take place over the next 20 days, according to the South's defense ministry. The move is part of the agreement reached between the South's President Moon Jae-In and the North's Kim Jong Un last month in Pyongyang, where they promised to halt "all hostile acts" against each other and remove threats of war.

The deal also calls for the removal of guard posts and weapons from the JSA. According to Reuters, the troops who remain will be unarmed. The JSA is the only point on the border where troops from both sides come face to face.

The two sides have already taken steps to cool tensions in the region.

Earlier this year, South Korea removed its propaganda loudspeakers which it used to blast anti-Pyongyang messages along the border.

And North Korea symbolically moved its clock forward 30 minutes to align with its Southern neighbor in an act of unity.