27 April 2018, North Korea and South Korea adopted the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, which agreed that areas around the Northern Limit Line would be converted into a maritime peace zone in order to prevent accidental military clashes and guarantee safe fishing activities. United Nations Command's position The UNC emphasized its position on the border issue on 23 August 1999, stating that the NLL issue was non-negotiable because the demarcation line had been recognized as the de facto maritime border for a considerable length of time by both Koreas: The UNC insisted that the NLL must be maintained until a new maritime MDL could be established through the Joint Military Commission on the armistice agreement. However, a 1973 U.S. diplomatic cable, now declassified, noted that UNC protested North Korean intrusions within of UNC controlled islands as armistice agreement violations, but did not protest NLL intrusions as the NLL was not mentioned in the armistice agreement. South Korea wished to describe all NLL penetrations as "military provocations", but the U.S. saw that as a major problem for the U.S. position on the armistice agreement. In 1975 the UNC position was that North Korean fishing or patrolling south of the NLL, outside of the UNC controlled islands, was not justification for any coercive actions by UNC controlled vessels; the UNC would not participate in establishing an exclusive South Korean fishing zone. North Korea's position When the 1953 Armistice was concluded between the U.N. and North Korea, agreement over a maritime extension of the demilitarized zone was not achieved. In 1955, DPRK proclaimed territorial waters extending . from the coastline. Other than this, North Korea did not explicitly dispute or actively violate the NLL until 1973. First, the North Korean negotiators at the 346th meeting of the Military Armistice Commission challenged the status of the line. North Korea followed this up by sending large groups of patrol ships over the NLL on about 43 occasions in October and November. North Korea states that it had not been informed of the existence of the line, which is now confirmed by declassified U.S. diplomatic cables, so it could not dispute it earlier. North Korea's official state news agency KCNA described the line as the "final line for stopping the defectors to the north" drawn to meet "Washington's self-justified interests." On 1 August 1977, North Korea established an Exclusive