South Korea's defense ministry has apparently proposed to the United States that they jointly manage the Demilitarized Zone(DMZ).

A source familiar with Seoul-Washington ties said Thursday that the ministry recently made the proposal as the issue of jurisdiction over the border barrier area has emerged as a hot topic between the allies. 

The ministry also requested that the jurisdiction issue be discussed at the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue and Security Consultative Meeting. 

The source said the ministry proposed that the UN Command(UNC) continue to have jurisdiction over the area north of the barbed fence within the South's section of the DMZ, while South Korea's military exercise jurisdiction over the area south of the fence, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of the South's section.

The UNC has yet to convey a clear answer but when asked by Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency to comment on the ministry's proposal, the Command cited a statement it had released last December. 

On December 16 of last year, the UNC said in its "UNC Statement on UNC Military Armistice Commission authorities and procedures" that "since 1953, UNC has been the successful administrator of the DMZ."

Such remarks suggest that the UNC is, at the present, negative to the South's proposal. 

The latest proposal comes after the UNC command emphasized on January 28 that jurisdiction over the DMZ strictly falls under the command as it expressed opposition to a bill pursued by the ruling Democratic Party that would grant the South Korean government the authority to permit DMZ access in case of nonmilitary activities in the area, including tourism.

The UN Command had said the bill, dubbed the DMZ bill, is in direct violation of the Korean Armistice Agreement, adding that the purpose of the DMZ is to prevent the recurrence of war.