South Korea’s military has decided to tentatively suspend from Wednesday the excavation of Korean War remains inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). 
 
A Defense Ministry official said Tuesday that the ministry was scheduled to excavate remains on the South Korean side of Arrowhead Ridge on Wednesday but decided to scrap the plan amid rising tensions. 

The official said it is unclear when the excavation will resume, adding that a decision will be made in accordance with developments on the peninsula. 

In making the latest decision, the military apparently took into account the safety of South Korean troops as the work was being carried out very close to the inter-Korean border. 

Under a military deal signed in September 2018, the two Koreas had agreed to carry out the joint excavation project on Arrowhead Ridge, one of the fiercest battlefields during the Korean War.