The United Nations Command has revised its armistice rules to allow South Korean and United States forces to carry machine guns, recoilless rifles and mortars into the military buffer with North Korea, a copy of the guidelines showed Sunday. The Demilitarized Zone was originally set up to be clear of heavy arms.

The revision to the United Nations Regulation 551-4 recently obtained by Yonhap News Agency governs compliance with the inter-Korean armistice agreement and authorizes South Korean and U.S. troops to not only carry individual small arms, like pistols and assault rifles, but also heavy weapons into the DMZ. The changes went into effect on Sept. 5, 2014, and mark the first time the unified command formally took steps to better arm its soldiers in the 257-kilometer-long and 4-kilometer-wide strip of land that divides the Korean Peninsula since the armistice was signed in 1953.

The armistice brought about the cease fire to the Korean War (1950-53) with the UNC signing the armistice agreement on behalf of South Korea with North Korea.

The changed regulation states the UNC's commander "has authorized the placement" of medium and heavy machine guns up to 12.7 millimeters, K4 40mm automatic grenade launchers, 57mm recoilless rifles, 60mm and 81mm mortars, Claymore anti-personnel mines and hand grenades.

The updated regulation said the change is "due to the weapon systems placed within the DMZ by North Korea's Korean People's Army."

The revision was agreed between the UNC and South Korea in advance in the Memorandum for Authorized Exceptions within the DMZ signed between the UNC commander and South Korea's chairman on July 17, 2014, a UNC official noted.

Originally the armistice allowed the use of only personal sidearms like pistols in the DMZ because the military buffer was designed to prevent any unnecessary military clashes between the two sides.

But North Korea has long deployed mortars and large-caliber anti-aircraft machine guns as well as anti-personnel and anti-tank land mines in the DMZ in violation of the armistice agreement, prompting South Korea's military to take countermeasures.

"The latest action means the UNC has allowed the use of heavy arms and reflects the shortcomings in the armistice rules that were not in touch with reality," a South Korean defense official said in regards to the revision. He pointed out that such a step is necessary since the North has declared the armistice pact null and void and has been arming its troops on the DMZ with more powerful weapons.

On the other hand, some experts argue the changes could increase the possibility of military skirmishes between the two Koreas and undermine the reason for creating the DMZ in the first place. (Yonhap)